Church of Norway Delivers Sincere Apology to LGBTQ+ People for ‘Shame, Great Harm and Pain’

Against deep red curtains at a leading Oslo LGBTQ+ venue, the Church of Norway issued a formal apology for discrimination and harm caused by the church.

“The church in Norway has caused LGBTQ+ individuals harm, suffering and humiliation,” the lead bishop, the church leader, stated on Thursday. “This should never have happened and this is why I offer my apology now.”

“Harassment, discrimination and unfair treatment” led to a loss of faith for some, the bishop admitted. A church service at Oslo Cathedral was scheduled to follow his apology.

The statement of regret took place at the London Pub establishment, one among two bars involved in the 2022 attack that took two lives and left nine seriously injured at Oslo's Pride event. A Norwegian of Iranian origin, who expressed support for ISIS, received a sentence to no less than 30 years behind bars for the killings.

In common with various worldwide religions, the Norwegian Lutheran Church – an evangelical Lutheran church that is Norway’s largest faith community – for years sidelined LGBTQ+ individuals, preventing them from joining the clergy or from marrying in religious ceremonies. Back in the 1950s, church leaders referred to homosexual individuals as a “social danger of global proportions”.

However, as Norway's society grew more liberal, becoming the second in the world to allow same-sex registered partnerships back in 1993 and during 2009 the first Scandinavian country to legalize same-sex marriage, the church gradually changed.

In 2007, the Church of Norway started appointing gay pastors, and gay and lesbian couples could get married in religious ceremonies since 2017. In 2023, Tveit joined in Oslo’s Pride parade in what was called a first for the church.

The Thursday statement of regret received differing opinions. The leader of an organization for Christian lesbians in Norway, Pedersen-Eriksen, a lesbian minister herself, called it “a significant step toward healing” and a point in time that “signaled the conclusion of a difficult period within the church's past”.

According to Stephen Adom, the leader of Norway’s Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity, the statement was “strong and important” but arrived “overdue for individuals who lost their lives to AIDS … with hearts filled with anguish as the church regarded the epidemic to be God’s punishment”.

Internationally, a few churches have sought to offer apologies for their past behavior regarding LGBTQ+ individuals. During 2023, the Church of England said sorry for what it described as “disgraceful” conduct, even as it continues to refuse to authorize same-sex weddings within the church.

Similarly, Ireland's Methodist Church the previous year expressed regret for “inadequate pastoral assistance and care” to LGBTQ+ people and family members, but stayed firm in its belief that matrimony must only constitute a union between a man and a woman.

Several months ago, the United Church based in Canada offered an apology to Two-Spirit and LGBTQIA+ groups, characterizing it as a renewed commitment of its “pledge to complete acceptance and open hospitality” in every part of the church's activities.

“We did not manage to rejoice and take pleasure in all of your beautiful creation,” Rev Michael Blair, the top administrative leader of the church, remarked. “We have wounded people rather than pursuing healing. We are sorry.”