Church of Norway Makes Sincere Apology to LGBTQ+ Community for ‘Harm, Shame and Suffering’

Set against crimson theater drapes at a well-known Oslo location for LGBTQ+ gatherings, the Norwegian Lutheran Church offered an apology for hurtful actions and exclusion it had inflicted.

“Norway's church has caused the LGBTQ+ community shame, great harm and pain,” the lead bishop, Bishop Tveit, stated this Thursday. “This ought not to have occurred and that is why I apologise today.”

“Unequal treatment, harassment and discrimination” resulted in a loss of faith for some, the bishop admitted. A worship service at Oslo's main cathedral was scheduled to take place after his statement.

The apology occurred at the London Pub establishment, one of two bars targeted in the 2022 attack that took two lives and left nine seriously injured during Oslo’s Pride celebrations. An individual of Iranian descent living in Norway, who expressed support for ISIS, received a sentence to at least 30 years in prison for the murders.

Like many religions around the world, the Church of Norway – a Lutheran evangelical community that is Norway’s largest faith community – historically excluded LGBTQ+ people, denying them the opportunity to become pastors or to marry in church. During the 1950s, church leaders referred to homosexual individuals as “a worldwide social threat”.

Yet, with Norwegian society turning more progressive, emerging as the world's second to allow same-sex registered partnerships during 1993 and during 2009 the first in Scandinavia to legalize same-sex marriage, the religious institution eventually adapted.

Back in 2007, the Church of Norway started appointing gay pastors, and LGBTQ+ partners could have church weddings starting in 2017. Last year, Tveit participated in the Oslo Pride event in what was called an unprecedented step for the church.

The apology on Thursday was met with a mixed reaction. The leader of an organization for Christian lesbians in Norway, Pedersen-Eriksen, who is also a gay pastor, described it as “a crucial act of amends” and a moment that “finally marked the end of a painful era in the history of the church”.

As stated by Stephen Adom, the director of Norway’s Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity, the apology represented “powerful and significant” but arrived “not in time for those who lost their lives to AIDS … with deep sorrow in their hearts as the church regarded the crisis as divine punishment”.

Internationally, a handful of religious institutions have tried to reconcile for their past behavior concerning the LGBTQ+ community. During 2023, England's church apologised for what it characterized as “shameful” actions, though it persists in refusing to permit gay marriages within the church.

In a similar vein, the Methodist Church located in Ireland the previous year expressed regret for “shortcomings in pastoral care and support” toward LGBTQ+ individuals and their families, but held fast in its belief that marriage could only be a bond between male and female.

In the early part of this year, the United Church based in Canada delivered a statement of regret toward Two-Spirit and LGBTQIA+ individuals, describing it as a reaffirmation of the church's “dedication to welcoming all and full inclusion” throughout every area of church life.

“We have failed to celebrate and delight in all of your beautiful creation,” Rev Michael Blair, the top administrative leader of the church, said. “We caused pain to people instead of seeking wholeness. We express our regret.”