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Set against deep red curtains at a well-known Oslo location for LGBTQ+ gatherings, the Norwegian Lutheran Church issued a formal apology for harm and unequal treatment perpetrated over the years.

“Norway's church has brought LGBTQ+ individuals shame, great harm and pain,” the lead bishop, Olav Fykse Tveit, announced during a Thursday event. “This should never have happened and this is why I apologise today.”

“Harassment, discrimination and unfair treatment” had caused a loss of faith for some, Tveit acknowledged. A worship service at the cathedral in Oslo was arranged to come after the apology.

This formal apology was delivered at the London Pub establishment, one of two bars attacked during the 2022 shooting that resulted in two deaths and injured nine people severely throughout the Oslo Pride festivities. An individual of Iranian descent living in Norway, who swore loyalty to Islamic State, was given a prison term to no less than 30 years in incarceration for carrying out the attacks.

Similar to numerous global faiths, the Church of Norway – a Protestant Lutheran denomination that is Norway’s largest faith community – had long marginalised LGBTQ+ people, denying them the opportunity from joining the clergy or to marry in church. During the 1950s, the church’s bishops described gay people as “a worldwide social threat”.

But as Norwegian society became increasingly liberal, ranking as the second globally to permit registered partnerships for same-sex couples during 1993 and during 2009 the initial Nordic nation to allow same-sex marriage, the religious institution eventually adapted.

During 2007, Norway's church commenced the ordination of gay pastors, and LGBTQ+ partners were permitted to get married in religious ceremonies since 2017. In 2023, the bishop took part in the Pride march in Oslo in what was called an unprecedented step for the church.

The Thursday statement of regret was met with differing opinions. The director of a group of Christian lesbians in Norway, Pedersen-Eriksen, who is also a gay pastor, called it “a significant step toward healing” and a moment that “finally marked the end of a painful era in the church’s history”.

According to Stephen Adom, the head of the Norwegian Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity, the statement was “powerful and significant” but arrived “not in time for those among us who died of Aids … carrying heavy hearts as the church regarded the disease as divine punishment”.

Globally, a handful of religious institutions have sought to offer apologies for their actions concerning the LGBTQ+ community. Last year, the Anglican Church said sorry for what it described as “shameful” actions, even as it continues to refuse to allow same-sex marriages in church.

Similarly, Ireland's Methodist Church last year issued an apology for “inadequate pastoral assistance and care” to LGBTQ+ people and family members, but held fast in its conviction that marriage could only be a partnership of one man and one woman.

Earlier this year, the United Church of Canada delivered a statement of regret to two spirit and LGBTQIA+ communities, labeling it a reaffirmation of the church's “dedication to welcoming all and full inclusion” in all aspects of church life.

“We did not manage to rejoice and take pleasure in the beauty of all creation,” Reverend Blair, the top administrative leader of the church, said. “We have wounded people instead of seeking wholeness. We express our regret.”