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Amid crimson theater drapes at one of Oslo’s most prominent LGBTQ+ spaces, the Norwegian Lutheran Church issued a formal apology for hurtful actions and exclusion caused by the church.

“The church in Norway has inflicted LGBTQ+ individuals pain, shame and significant harm,” bishop Olav Fykse Tveit, the church leader, announced on Thursday. “This should never have happened and this is why I offer my apology now.”

“Harassment, discrimination and unfair treatment” resulted in a loss of faith for some, Tveit acknowledged. A worship service at Oslo Cathedral was scheduled to take place after his statement.

The statement of regret occurred at the London Pub establishment, one of two bars involved in the 2022 shooting that killed two people and injured nine people severely at Oslo's Pride event. An individual of Iranian descent living in Norway, who had pledged allegiance to Islamic State, was sentenced to a minimum of three decades behind bars for the murders.

In common with various worldwide religions, the Norwegian Lutheran Church – a Lutheran evangelical community that is the most extensive faith community in the country – historically excluded the LGBTQ+ community, refusing to allow them from joining the clergy or from marrying in religious ceremonies. In the 1950s, the church’s bishops referred to homosexual individuals as “a worldwide social threat”.

Yet, with Norwegian society turning more progressive, emerging as the world's second to allow same-sex registered partnerships during 1993 and by 2009 the first in Scandinavia to legalize same-sex marriage, the church gradually changed.

Back in 2007, Norway's church commenced the ordination of homosexual ministers, and LGBTQ+ partners have been able to have church weddings since 2017. In 2023, Tveit joined in the Oslo Pride event in what was described as an unprecedented step for the church.

Thursday’s apology was met with a mixed reaction. The leader of an organization for Christian lesbians in Norway, Pedersen-Eriksen, a lesbian minister herself, called it “a crucial act of amends” and an occasion that “signaled the conclusion of a painful era within the church's past”.

According to Stephen Adom, the director of the Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity in Norway, the statement was “powerful and significant” but was delivered “not in time for those among us who died of Aids … with hearts filled with anguish because the church considered the epidemic as divine punishment”.

Globally, a handful of religious institutions have tried to offer apologies for historical treatment concerning the LGBTQ+ community. Last year, the Anglican Church apologised for what it described as its “shameful” treatment, although it continues to refuse to authorize same-sex weddings in religious settings.

Likewise, Ireland's Methodist Church last year apologised for “inadequate pastoral assistance and care” toward LGBTQ+ individuals and family members, but held fast in its belief that matrimony must only constitute a union between a man and a woman.

Several months ago, the United Church of Canada issued an apology to two spirit and LGBTQIA+ communities, characterizing it as a renewed commitment of its “pledge to complete acceptance and open hospitality” throughout every area of church life.

“We have failed to celebrate and delight in all of your beautiful creation,” Reverend Blair, the top administrative leader of the church, stated. “We caused pain to people instead of seeking wholeness. We express our regret.”