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Set against crimson theater drapes at a well-known Oslo location for LGBTQ+ gatherings, Norway's national church expressed regret for harm and unequal treatment caused by the church.

“The church in Norway has caused LGBTQ+ people shame, great harm and pain,” the lead bishop, Olav Fykse Tveit, declared during a Thursday event. “It was wrong for this to take place and which is the reason today I say sorry.”

“Harassment, discrimination and unfair treatment” led to some to lose their faith, Tveit recognized. A worship service at Oslo Cathedral was planned to follow his apology.

This formal apology was delivered at the London Pub, a bar that was one of two targeted in the 2022 shooting that took two lives and caused serious injuries to nine throughout the Oslo Pride festivities. A Norwegian of Iranian origin, who had pledged allegiance to Islamic State, received a sentence to no less than 30 years behind bars for the killings.

Like many religions around the world, Norway's church – a Lutheran evangelical community that is the most extensive faith community in the country – historically excluded the LGBTQ+ community, preventing them from joining the clergy or to have church weddings. Back in the 1950s, church leaders described gay people as a “social danger of global proportions”.

But as Norwegian society became increasingly liberal, ranking as the second globally to legalize same-sex partnerships in 1993 and by 2009 the initial Nordic nation to legalize same-sex marriage, the church gradually changed.

In 2007, the Norwegian Lutheran Church commenced the ordination of homosexual ministers, and LGBTQ+ partners could get married in religious ceremonies since 2017. Last year, the bishop took part in the Pride march in Oslo in what was called a first for the church.

The apology on Thursday elicited a mixed reaction. The head of a network representing Norwegian Christian lesbians, Pedersen-Eriksen, herself a gay pastor, referred to it as “a crucial act of amends” and a moment that “represented the closure of a dark chapter in the history of the church”.

As stated by Stephen Adom, the leader of the Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity in Norway, the apology represented “powerful and significant” but was delivered “overdue for individuals who lost their lives to AIDS … with hearts filled with anguish because the church considered the disease as divine punishment”.

Globally, a few churches have sought to make amends for historical treatment regarding LGBTQ+ individuals. In 2023, the Church of England apologised for what it referred to as “shameful” actions, though it continues to refuse to allow same-sex marriages within the church.

Similarly, Ireland's Methodist Church the previous year expressed regret for “shortcomings in pastoral care and support” regarding the LGBTQ+ community and their families, but held fast in the view that marriage should only represent a bond between male and female.

Earlier this year, the United Church based in Canada issued an apology toward Two-Spirit and LGBTQIA+ individuals, labeling it a renewed commitment of the church's “dedication to welcoming all and full inclusion” throughout every area of church life.

“We have failed to celebrate and delight in the beauty of all creation,” Michael Blair, the church's general secretary, remarked. “We caused pain to people in place of fostering completeness. We are sorry.”