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Amid crimson theater drapes at one of Oslo’s most prominent LGBTQ+ spaces, the Church of Norway expressed regret for hurtful actions and exclusion caused by the church.

“The church in Norway has caused LGBTQ+ individuals pain, shame and significant harm,” the lead bishop, the church leader, stated on Thursday. “It was wrong for this to take place and which is the reason I offer my apology now.”

The “discrimination, unequal treatment and harassment” had caused some to lose their faith, Tveit recognized. A church service at Oslo's main cathedral was planned to take place after his statement.

The apology was delivered at the London Pub establishment, one among two bars targeted in the 2022 violent incident that killed two people and injured nine people severely during Oslo’s Pride celebrations. A Norwegian citizen originally from Iran, who swore loyalty to Islamic State, received a sentence to a minimum of three decades behind bars for carrying out the attacks.

Like many religions around the world, the Church of Norway – an evangelical Lutheran church that is the most extensive faith community in the country – for years sidelined LGBTQ+ people, refusing to allow them from joining the clergy or from marrying in religious ceremonies. During the 1950s, church leaders described gay people as “a worldwide social threat”.

Yet, with Norwegian society turning more progressive, ranking as the second globally to allow same-sex registered partnerships during 1993 and during 2009 the first Scandinavian country to legalize same-sex marriage, the church slowly followed.

During 2007, the Norwegian Lutheran Church started appointing gay pastors, and gay and lesbian couples were permitted to marry in church from 2017 onward. Last year, the bishop took part in the Oslo Pride event in what was called an unprecedented step for the church.

The Thursday statement of regret received varied responses. The leader of an organization of Christian lesbians in Norway, Pedersen-Eriksen, who is also a gay pastor, described it as “a significant step toward healing” and a moment that “represented the closure of a painful era in the history of the church”.

According to Stephen Adom, the leader of the Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity in Norway, the statement was “powerful and significant” but had come “not in time for those who passed away from AIDS … with hearts filled with anguish as the church regarded the disease as punishment from God”.

Worldwide, several faith-based organizations have sought to reconcile for their actions towards LGBTQ+ people. In 2023, the Anglican Church expressed regret for what it described as “disgraceful” conduct, although it still declines to permit gay marriages in religious settings.

Likewise, Ireland's Methodist Church in the past year expressed regret for “inadequate pastoral assistance and care” to LGBTQ+ people and family members, but held fast in its conviction that marriage could only be a bond between male and female.

Earlier this year, the United Church of Canada issued an apology toward Two-Spirit and LGBTQIA+ individuals, describing it as a reaffirmation of the church's “dedication to welcoming all and full inclusion” in every part of the church's activities.

“We have failed to celebrate and delight in the wonderful diversity of creation,” Michael Blair, the general secretary of the church, said. “We have wounded people in place of fostering completeness. We express our regret.”