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

Against deep red curtains at a leading Oslo LGBTQ+ venue, the Church of Norway expressed regret for discrimination and harm caused by the church.

“Norway's church has brought the LGBTQ+ community pain, shame and significant harm,” the lead bishop, Bishop Tveit, declared on Thursday. “This ought not to have occurred and which is the reason I apologise today.”

“Unequal treatment, harassment and discrimination” had caused some to lose their faith, the bishop admitted. A religious service at Oslo's main cathedral was arranged to come after the apology.

This formal apology took place at the London Pub establishment, a bar that was one of two targeted in the 2022 attack that resulted in two deaths and caused serious injuries to nine at Oslo's Pride event. A Norwegian of Iranian origin, who swore loyalty to Islamic State, was sentenced 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 biggest religious group in Norway – had long marginalised LGBTQ+ people, denying them the opportunity to become pastors or from marrying in religious ceremonies. During the 1950s, church leaders referred to homosexual individuals as a “social danger of global proportions”.

However, as Norway's society grew more liberal, ranking as the second globally to allow same-sex registered partnerships back in 1993 and in 2009 the initial Nordic nation to approve gay marriage, the religious institution eventually adapted.

In 2007, the Church of Norway commenced the ordination of gay pastors, and LGBTQ+ partners have been able to marry in church starting in 2017. Last year, the bishop took part in the Oslo Pride event in what was called a first for the church.

The apology on Thursday elicited varied responses. The director of a group for Christian lesbians in Norway, Hanne Marie Pedersen-Eriksen, who is also a gay pastor, referred to it as “a significant step toward healing” and a moment that “represented the closure of a dark chapter in the church’s history”.

For Stephen Adom, the leader of the Norwegian Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity, the apology was “meaningful and vital” but was delivered “not in time for those among us who died of Aids … carrying heavy hearts since the church viewed the disease to be God’s punishment”.

Internationally, a few churches have attempted to reconcile for their past behavior concerning the LGBTQ+ community. During 2023, the Anglican Church apologised for what it described as its “shameful” treatment, though it continues to refuse to authorize same-sex weddings within the church.

In a similar vein, Ireland's Methodist Church last year apologised for “shortcomings in pastoral care and support” regarding the LGBTQ+ community and their relatives, but held fast in the view that marriage could only be a union between a man and a woman.

In the early part of this year, Canada's United Church offered an apology to two spirit and LGBTQIA+ communities, labeling it a confirmation of the church’s “commitment to radical hospitality and full inclusion” in every part of the church's activities.

“We have not succeeded to rejoice and take pleasure in the beauty of all creation,” Rev Michael Blair, the church's general secretary, remarked. “We have hurt individuals instead of seeking wholeness. We apologize.”