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Against red stage curtains at a leading Oslo LGBTQ+ venue, the Norwegian Lutheran Church offered an apology for hurtful actions and exclusion perpetrated over the years.

“The national church has brought the LGBTQ+ community pain, shame and significant harm,” bishop Olav Fykse Tveit, the church leader, stated on Thursday. “It was wrong for this to take place and this is why I offer my apology now.”

“Harassment, discrimination and unfair treatment” resulted in a loss of faith for some, Tveit recognized. A worship service at Oslo's main cathedral was scheduled to follow his apology.

This formal apology occurred at the London Pub, one of two bars targeted in the 2022 violent incident that resulted in two deaths and injured nine people severely at Oslo's Pride event. A Norwegian of Iranian origin, who swore loyalty to Islamic State, was sentenced to at least 30 years behind bars for carrying out the attacks.

Similar to numerous global faiths, Norway's church – an evangelical Lutheran church that is Norway’s largest faith community – had long marginalised the LGBTQ+ community, refusing to allow them from joining the clergy 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, emerging as the world's second to allow same-sex registered partnerships in 1993 and in 2009 the first in Scandinavia to allow same-sex marriage, the church gradually changed.

In 2007, the Norwegian Lutheran Church commenced the ordination of homosexual ministers, and same-sex couples could have church weddings since 2017. In 2023, the bishop took part in Oslo’s Pride parade in what was called a historic moment for the religious institution.

The apology on Thursday received varied responses. The head of a network of Christian lesbians in Norway, Hanne Marie, a lesbian minister herself, described it as “a significant step toward healing” and a point in time that “signaled the conclusion of a painful era in the history of the church”.

As stated by Stephen Adom, the leader of Norway’s Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity, the statement was “strong and important” but was delivered “overdue for individuals among us who died of Aids … with deep sorrow in their hearts since the church viewed the crisis as punishment from God”.

Worldwide, a handful of religious institutions have sought to make amends for their past behavior towards LGBTQ+ people. Last year, the Anglican Church apologised for what it referred to as “shameful” actions, although it continues to refuse to allow same-sex marriages within the church.

Likewise, the Methodist Church located in Ireland in the past year issued an apology for “inadequate pastoral assistance and care” to LGBTQ+ people and their families, but stayed firm in its belief that matrimony must only constitute a union between a man and a woman.

Earlier this year, the United Church of Canada delivered a statement of regret toward Two-Spirit and LGBTQIA+ individuals, labeling it a renewed commitment of the church's “dedication to welcoming all and full inclusion” in every part of the church's activities.

“We did not manage to rejoice and take pleasure in the beauty of all creation,” Michael Blair, the general secretary of the church, said. “We have hurt individuals in place of fostering completeness. We apologize.”