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Set against crimson theater drapes at a well-known Oslo location for LGBTQ+ gatherings, the Norwegian Lutheran Church expressed regret for harm and unequal treatment it had inflicted.

“Norway's church has caused the LGBTQ+ community harm, suffering and humiliation,” the lead bishop, Olav Fykse Tveit, declared on Thursday. “This should never have happened and this is why today I say sorry.”

“Unequal treatment, harassment and discrimination” had caused certain individuals abandoning their faith, Tveit recognized. A worship service at the cathedral in Oslo was arranged to come after the apology.

This formal apology took place at a venue called London Pub, one of two bars attacked during the 2022 attack that resulted in two deaths and caused serious injuries to nine during Oslo’s Pride celebrations. A Norwegian of Iranian origin, who had pledged allegiance to Islamic State, received a sentence to at least 30 years behind bars for carrying out the attacks.

Similar to numerous global faiths, the Church of Norway – an evangelical Lutheran church that is Norway’s largest faith community – historically excluded the LGBTQ+ community, preventing them from serving as pastors or to have church weddings. During the 1950s, the church’s bishops referred to homosexual individuals as “a worldwide social threat”.

Yet, with Norwegian society turning more progressive, becoming the second in the world to permit registered partnerships for same-sex couples in 1993 and during 2009 the initial Nordic nation to legalize same-sex marriage, the church gradually changed.

In 2007, the Norwegian Lutheran Church started appointing homosexual ministers, and LGBTQ+ partners were permitted to marry in church since 2017. In 2023, Tveit participated in Oslo’s Pride parade in what was described as an unprecedented step for the church.

The Thursday statement of regret was met with varied responses. The leader of an organization for Christian lesbians in Norway, Hanne Marie, who is also a gay pastor, called it “a crucial act of amends” and an occasion that “finally marked the end of a dark chapter in the history of the church”.

As stated by Stephen Adom, the head of the Norwegian Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity, the apology represented “strong and important” but had come “too late for those who lost their lives to AIDS … with deep sorrow in their hearts as the church regarded the epidemic as divine punishment”.

Globally, a handful of religious institutions have attempted to reconcile for their past behavior towards LGBTQ+ people. Last year, the Anglican Church said sorry for what it referred to as “disgraceful” conduct, although it still declines to allow same-sex marriages in religious settings.

In a similar vein, Ireland's Methodist Church last year issued an apology for its “failures in pastoral support and care” regarding the LGBTQ+ community and their relatives, but held fast in its belief that marriage should only represent a partnership of one man and one woman.

Earlier this year, Canada's United Church issued an apology to Two-Spirit and LGBTQIA+ groups, describing it as a confirmation of the church's “dedication to welcoming all and full inclusion” throughout every area of church life.

“We have not succeeded to celebrate and delight in the beauty of all creation,” Michael Blair, the church's general secretary, stated. “We have hurt individuals instead of seeking wholeness. We are sorry.”