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Amid deep red curtains at one of Oslo’s most prominent LGBTQ+ spaces, the Norwegian Lutheran Church expressed regret for discrimination and harm it had inflicted.

“Norway's church has brought LGBTQ+ individuals shame, great harm and pain,” the presiding bishop, the church leader, declared on Thursday. “It was wrong for this to take place and which is the reason today I say sorry.”

“Harassment, discrimination and unfair treatment” resulted in some to lose their faith, the bishop admitted. A church service at Oslo's main cathedral was arranged to follow his apology.

The statement of regret was delivered at a venue called London Pub, a bar that was one of two attacked during the 2022 violent incident that killed two people and injured nine people severely at Oslo's Pride event. An individual of Iranian descent living in Norway, who swore loyalty to Islamic State, was sentenced to no less than 30 years in prison for the murders.

Like many religions around the world, Norway's church – a Protestant Lutheran denomination that is Norway’s largest faith community – historically excluded LGBTQ+ individuals, denying them the opportunity from serving as pastors or to have church weddings. In the 1950s, church leaders referred to homosexual individuals as “a global-scale societal hazard”.

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 legalize same-sex marriage, the church slowly followed.

Back in 2007, the Norwegian Lutheran Church started appointing homosexual ministers, and LGBTQ+ partners were permitted to get married in religious ceremonies since 2017. In 2023, Tveit joined in Oslo’s Pride parade in what was called a first for the church.

The Thursday statement of regret received differing opinions. The head of a network for Christian lesbians in Norway, Hanne Marie Pedersen-Eriksen, a lesbian minister herself, called it “an important reparation” and a moment that “finally marked the end of a difficult period within the church's past”.

According to Stephen Adom, the leader of Norway’s Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity, the statement was “powerful and significant” but had come “not in time for those who lost their lives to AIDS … carrying heavy hearts as the church regarded the disease as punishment from God”.

Worldwide, several faith-based organizations have tried to offer apologies for their actions regarding LGBTQ+ individuals. During 2023, the Anglican Church apologised for what it described as “shameful” actions, though it continues to refuse to permit gay marriages within the church.

In a similar vein, the Methodist Church located in Ireland in the past year apologised for “inadequate pastoral assistance and care” toward LGBTQ+ individuals and their relatives, but stayed firm in its conviction that marriage could only be a bond between male and female.

In the early part of this year, the United Church based in Canada issued an apology toward Two-Spirit and LGBTQIA+ individuals, describing it as a confirmation of the church's “dedication to welcoming all and full inclusion” in every part of the church's activities.

“We did not manage to celebrate and delight in the beauty of all creation,” Reverend Blair, the church's general secretary, said. “We have wounded people rather than pursuing healing. We are sorry.”