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Against red stage curtains at a well-known Oslo location for LGBTQ+ gatherings, the Church of Norway expressed regret for harm and unequal treatment perpetrated over the years.

“The national church has brought LGBTQ+ people pain, shame and significant harm,” the lead bishop, the church leader, stated during a Thursday event. “This should never have happened and this is why I apologise today.”

“Unequal treatment, harassment and discrimination” had caused a loss of faith for some, the bishop admitted. A religious service at Oslo's main cathedral was arranged to take place after his statement.

The apology occurred at the London Pub, one among two bars attacked during the 2022 violent incident that resulted in two deaths and injured nine people severely throughout the Oslo Pride festivities. A Norwegian citizen originally from Iran, who had pledged allegiance to Islamic State, was sentenced to at least 30 years in prison for the murders.

In common with various worldwide religions, the Norwegian Lutheran Church – a Protestant Lutheran denomination that is Norway’s largest faith community – for years sidelined LGBTQ+ people, denying them the opportunity to become pastors or to marry in church. In the 1950s, church leaders characterized LGBTQ+ persons as a “social danger of global proportions”.

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

Back in 2007, Norway's church began ordaining homosexual ministers, and gay and lesbian couples could get married in religious ceremonies since 2017. In 2023, the bishop took part in Oslo’s Pride parade in what was described as a historic moment for the religious institution.

Thursday’s apology received varied responses. The leader of an organization representing Norwegian Christian lesbians, Pedersen-Eriksen, who is also a gay pastor, called it “a significant step toward healing” and a point in time that “represented the closure of a difficult period within the church's past”.

As stated by Stephen Adom, the director of Norway’s Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity, the statement was “strong and important” but was delivered “too late for those who lost their lives to AIDS … with hearts filled with anguish because the church considered the epidemic to be God’s punishment”.

Internationally, several faith-based organizations have sought to make amends for their past behavior towards LGBTQ+ people. During 2023, the Anglican Church said sorry for what it described as its “shameful” treatment, although it continues to refuse to permit gay marriages in religious settings.

In a similar vein, the Methodist Church located in Ireland in the past year expressed regret for “shortcomings in pastoral care and support” toward LGBTQ+ individuals and their relatives, but remained staunch in its belief that matrimony must only constitute a partnership of one man and one woman.

Earlier this year, the United Church of Canada issued an apology toward Two-Spirit and LGBTQIA+ individuals, labeling it a reaffirmation of its “pledge to complete acceptance and open hospitality” in every part of the church's activities.

“We have failed to celebrate and delight in the beauty of all creation,” Rev Michael Blair, the top administrative leader of the church, said. “We have wounded people in place of fostering completeness. We apologize.”