Norway's Church Makes Apology to LGBTQ+ People for ‘Pain, Shame and Significant Harm’

Against deep red curtains at a well-known Oslo location for LGBTQ+ gatherings, the Church of Norway offered an apology for hurtful actions and exclusion it had inflicted.

“The church in Norway has caused LGBTQ+ people harm, suffering and humiliation,” the presiding bishop, the church leader, declared during a Thursday event. “This should never have happened and this is why I apologise today.”

“Harassment, discrimination and unfair treatment” led to some to lose their faith, the bishop admitted. A church service at the cathedral in Oslo was arranged to take place after his statement.

The statement of regret was delivered at the London Pub establishment, one of two bars targeted in the 2022 violent incident that took two lives and injured nine people severely 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, Norway's church – a Protestant Lutheran denomination that is the most extensive faith community in the country – for years sidelined LGBTQ+ people, denying them the opportunity from joining the clergy or to have church weddings. In the 1950s, bishops of the church characterized LGBTQ+ persons as a “social danger of global proportions”.

However, as Norway's society grew more liberal, becoming the second in the world to allow same-sex registered partnerships back in 1993 and in 2009 the initial Nordic nation to legalize same-sex marriage, the church slowly followed.

During 2007, Norway's church commenced the ordination of homosexual ministers, and LGBTQ+ partners could get married in religious ceremonies starting in 2017. During 2023, Tveit participated in the Pride march in Oslo in what was noted as an unprecedented step for the church.

The apology on Thursday was met with a mixed reaction. The head of a network of Christian lesbians in Norway, Pedersen-Eriksen, herself a gay pastor, described it as “a crucial act of amends” and an occasion that “signaled the conclusion of a difficult period in the history of the church”.

As stated by Stephen Adom, the leader of Norway’s Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity, the apology was “meaningful and vital” but was delivered “not in time for those who lost their lives to AIDS … carrying heavy hearts because the church considered the epidemic as divine punishment”.

Globally, several faith-based organizations have tried to make amends for their past behavior regarding LGBTQ+ individuals. During 2023, England's church said sorry for what it characterized as “shameful” actions, even as it persists in refusing to allow same-sex marriages in religious settings.

Similarly, Ireland's Methodist Church in the past year expressed regret for “inadequate pastoral assistance and care” toward LGBTQ+ individuals and family members, but stayed firm in its belief that marriage should only represent a bond between male and female.

Earlier this year, the United Church based in Canada delivered a statement of regret toward Two-Spirit and LGBTQIA+ individuals, labeling it a renewed commitment of the church’s “commitment to radical hospitality and full inclusion” throughout every area of church life.

“We have not succeeded to celebrate and delight in the wonderful diversity of creation,” Rev Michael Blair, the top administrative leader of the church, remarked. “We caused pain to people rather than pursuing healing. We are sorry.”