The Norwegian Church Makes Sincere Apology to LGBTQ+ Community for ‘Pain, Shame and Significant Harm’

Against deep red curtains at a well-known Oslo location for LGBTQ+ gatherings, Norway's national church offered an apology for discrimination and harm caused by the church.

“The church in Norway has inflicted LGBTQ+ people harm, suffering and humiliation,” the presiding bishop, Bishop Tveit, announced on Thursday. “This ought not to have occurred and that is why today I say sorry.”

“Harassment, discrimination and unfair treatment” resulted in a loss of faith for some, Tveit acknowledged. A worship service at the cathedral in Oslo was planned to take place after his statement.

This formal apology took place at the London Pub establishment, a bar that was one of two attacked during the 2022 violent incident that took two lives and injured nine people severely during Oslo’s Pride celebrations. A Norwegian citizen originally from Iran, who had pledged allegiance to Islamic State, was given a prison term to at least 30 years in incarceration for the killings.

In common with various worldwide religions, Norway's church – a Protestant Lutheran denomination that is the biggest religious group in Norway – for years sidelined LGBTQ+ people, preventing them from serving as pastors or to have church weddings. In the 1950s, bishops of the church described gay people as “a worldwide social threat”.

Yet, with Norwegian society turning more progressive, ranking as the second globally to permit registered partnerships for same-sex couples in 1993 and by 2009 the initial Nordic nation to approve gay marriage, the religious institution eventually adapted.

In 2007, the Norwegian Lutheran Church began ordaining homosexual ministers, and gay and lesbian couples have been able to get married in religious ceremonies since 2017. During 2023, Tveit participated in the Oslo Pride event in what was noted as a first for the church.

The apology on Thursday was met with a mixed reaction. The leader of an organization representing Norwegian Christian lesbians, Pedersen-Eriksen, who is also a gay pastor, described it as “a significant step toward healing” and an occasion that “signaled the conclusion of a dark chapter in the history of the church”.

As stated by Stephen Adom, the head of Norway’s Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity, the statement was “powerful and significant” but was delivered “overdue for individuals who passed away from AIDS … carrying heavy hearts since the church viewed the epidemic to be God’s punishment”.

Globally, a handful of religious institutions have sought to offer apologies for their past behavior regarding LGBTQ+ individuals. In 2023, the Church of England apologised for what it referred to as “disgraceful” conduct, though it still declines to allow same-sex marriages within the church.

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

Several months ago, the United Church of Canada delivered a statement of regret to Two-Spirit and LGBTQIA+ groups, labeling it a renewed commitment of its “pledge to complete acceptance and open hospitality” in every part of the church's activities.

“We have not succeeded to celebrate and delight in the beauty of all creation,” Reverend Blair, the general secretary of the church, said. “We have wounded people in place of fostering completeness. We apologize.”