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Against red stage curtains at one of Oslo’s most prominent LGBTQ+ spaces, the Norwegian Lutheran Church offered an apology for hurtful actions and exclusion it had inflicted.

“The national church has caused LGBTQ+ individuals harm, suffering and humiliation,” the presiding bishop, Bishop Tveit, declared during a Thursday event. “This ought not to have occurred and this is why today I say sorry.”

“Harassment, discrimination and unfair treatment” resulted in some to lose their faith, Tveit acknowledged. A religious service at the cathedral in Oslo was planned to follow his apology.

This formal apology occurred at the London Pub establishment, one of two bars attacked during the 2022 attack that killed two people and caused serious injuries to nine throughout the Oslo Pride festivities. A Norwegian citizen originally from Iran, who expressed support for ISIS, was given a prison term to at least 30 years in prison for carrying out the attacks.

In common with various worldwide religions, the Norwegian Lutheran Church – a Protestant Lutheran denomination that is Norway’s largest faith community – had long marginalised the LGBTQ+ community, refusing to allow them to become pastors or from marrying in religious ceremonies. Back in the 1950s, church leaders described gay people 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 first Scandinavian country to allow same-sex marriage, the religious institution eventually adapted.

Back in 2007, the Church of Norway started appointing gay pastors, and same-sex couples have been able to marry in church starting in 2017. In 2023, the bishop took part in the Pride march in Oslo in what was described as a historic moment for the religious institution.

The Thursday statement of regret elicited differing opinions. The head of a network for Christian lesbians in Norway, Hanne Marie Pedersen-Eriksen, who is also a gay pastor, referred to it as “a crucial act of amends” and a point in time that “finally marked the end of a painful era in the history of the church”.

According to Stephen Adom, the head of Norway’s Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity, the apology was “strong and important” but had come “too late for those among us who died of Aids … with deep sorrow in their hearts because the church considered the epidemic as punishment from God”.

Globally, a handful of religious institutions have sought to offer apologies for historical treatment regarding LGBTQ+ individuals. In 2023, the Church of England apologised for what it described as “disgraceful” conduct, although it persists in refusing to permit gay marriages in church.

Similarly, the Methodist Church located in Ireland last year apologised for its “failures in pastoral support and care” regarding the LGBTQ+ community and family members, but stayed firm in its belief that marriage should only represent a bond between male and female.

Earlier this year, Canada's United Church offered an apology toward Two-Spirit and LGBTQIA+ individuals, describing it as a confirmation of the church’s “commitment to radical hospitality and full inclusion” in every part of the church's activities.

“We did not manage to celebrate and delight in the beauty of all creation,” Rev Michael Blair, the top administrative leader of the church, said. “We have hurt individuals instead of seeking wholeness. We express our regret.”