Norway's Church Delivers Formal Apology to LGBTQ+ Community for ‘Harm, Shame and Suffering’

Set against deep red curtains at a well-known Oslo location for LGBTQ+ gatherings, the Church of Norway expressed regret for hurtful actions and exclusion it had inflicted.

“The national church has caused the LGBTQ+ community shame, great harm and pain,” the lead bishop, the church leader, announced during a Thursday event. “This should never have happened and which is the reason today I say sorry.”

“Harassment, discrimination and unfair treatment” had caused a loss of faith for some, Tveit acknowledged. A religious service at Oslo Cathedral was scheduled to come after the apology.

The apology took place at a venue called London Pub, one among two bars involved in the 2022 shooting that took two lives and left nine seriously injured during Oslo’s Pride celebrations. A Norwegian of Iranian origin, who swore loyalty to Islamic State, received a sentence to no less than 30 years in prison for the killings.

In common with various worldwide religions, the Church of Norway – a Protestant Lutheran denomination that is Norway’s largest faith community – had long marginalised LGBTQ+ individuals, denying them the opportunity from serving as pastors or from marrying in religious ceremonies. Back in the 1950s, the church’s bishops described gay people as “a global-scale societal hazard”.

But as Norwegian society became increasingly liberal, ranking as the second globally to allow same-sex registered partnerships during 1993 and in 2009 the initial Nordic nation to allow same-sex marriage, the church slowly followed.

During 2007, the Norwegian Lutheran Church began ordaining gay pastors, and LGBTQ+ partners could have church weddings from 2017 onward. In 2023, the bishop took part in the Pride march in Oslo in what was noted as a first for the church.

The Thursday statement of regret elicited a mixed reaction. The leader of an organization representing Norwegian Christian lesbians, Pedersen-Eriksen, herself a gay pastor, called it “a crucial act of amends” and a moment that “signaled the conclusion of a dark chapter within the church's past”.

According to Stephen Adom, the leader of the Norwegian Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity, the apology represented “powerful and significant” but was delivered “overdue for individuals who passed away from AIDS … carrying heavy hearts as the church regarded the disease to be God’s punishment”.

Globally, a few churches have tried to offer apologies for their actions regarding LGBTQ+ individuals. In 2023, England's church apologised for what it characterized as “disgraceful” conduct, even as it still declines to authorize same-sex weddings in church.

In a similar vein, Ireland's Methodist Church in the past year expressed regret for “inadequate pastoral assistance and care” regarding the LGBTQ+ community and their families, but stayed firm in its belief that matrimony must only constitute a bond between male and female.

Several months ago, the United Church based in Canada delivered a statement of regret toward Two-Spirit and LGBTQIA+ individuals, describing it as a confirmation of the church's “dedication to welcoming all and full inclusion” throughout every area of church life.

“We have not succeeded to honor and appreciate the wonderful diversity of creation,” Michael Blair, the top administrative leader of the church, remarked. “We have wounded people in place of fostering completeness. We express our regret.”