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Set against deep red curtains at one of Oslo’s most prominent LGBTQ+ spaces, Norway's national church issued a formal apology for harm and unequal treatment caused by the church.

“The national church has caused LGBTQ+ individuals harm, suffering and humiliation,” bishop Olav Fykse Tveit, the church leader, declared this Thursday. “It was wrong for this to take place and that is why I apologise today.”

The “discrimination, unequal treatment and harassment” led to a loss of faith for some, Tveit acknowledged. A church service at Oslo's main cathedral was planned to take place after his statement.

This formal apology occurred at the London Pub establishment, one among two bars targeted in the 2022 shooting that took two lives and injured nine people severely at Oslo's Pride event. A Norwegian citizen originally from Iran, who expressed support for ISIS, was sentenced to at least 30 years behind bars for the murders.

Similar to numerous global faiths, the Norwegian Lutheran Church – a Lutheran evangelical community that is the biggest religious group in Norway – had long marginalised LGBTQ+ individuals, denying them the opportunity from serving as pastors or from marrying in religious ceremonies. In the 1950s, the church’s bishops described gay people as “a global-scale societal hazard”.

However, as Norway's society grew more liberal, ranking as the second globally to permit registered partnerships for same-sex couples during 1993 and in 2009 the first Scandinavian country to legalize same-sex marriage, the religious institution eventually adapted.

Back in 2007, Norway's church commenced the ordination of LGBTQ+ clergy, and LGBTQ+ partners were permitted to have church weddings starting in 2017. In 2023, Tveit participated in Oslo’s Pride parade in what was described as a first for the church.

The Thursday statement of regret received varied responses. The director of a group representing Norwegian Christian lesbians, Hanne Marie, who is also a gay pastor, described it as “a significant step toward healing” and an occasion that “finally marked the end of a difficult period in the history of the church”.

For Stephen Adom, the director of the Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity in Norway, the apology represented “strong and important” but was delivered “not in time for those who lost their lives to AIDS … with hearts filled with anguish because the church considered the epidemic to be God’s punishment”.

Worldwide, a few churches have tried to reconcile for their actions towards LGBTQ+ people. Last year, the Anglican Church expressed regret for what it referred to as its “shameful” treatment, though it persists in refusing to allow same-sex marriages in church.

Likewise, Ireland's Methodist Church the previous year apologised for “inadequate pastoral assistance and care” regarding the LGBTQ+ community and their relatives, but held fast in the view that marriage could only be a bond between male and female.

Several months ago, the United Church of Canada offered an apology toward Two-Spirit and LGBTQIA+ individuals, labeling it a renewed commitment of its “pledge to complete acceptance and open hospitality” throughout every area of church life.

“We did not manage to celebrate and delight in all of your beautiful creation,” Reverend Blair, the top administrative leader of the church, stated. “We have hurt individuals instead of seeking wholeness. We apologize.”