The Norwegian Church Issues Apology to LGBTQ+ Individuals for ‘Harm, Shame and Suffering’

Set against crimson theater drapes at a leading Oslo LGBTQ+ venue, the Norwegian Lutheran Church issued a formal apology for harm and unequal treatment caused by the church.

“Norway's church has brought LGBTQ+ people shame, great harm and pain,” the lead bishop, Bishop Tveit, announced on Thursday. “This ought not to have occurred and which is the reason I offer my apology now.”

“Unequal treatment, harassment and discrimination” resulted in a loss of faith for some, Tveit acknowledged. A worship service at the cathedral in Oslo was scheduled to come after the apology.

The statement of regret took place at the London Pub establishment, one of two bars involved in the 2022 shooting that killed two people and injured nine people severely at Oslo's Pride event. A Norwegian citizen originally from Iran, who expressed support for ISIS, was sentenced to a minimum of three decades behind bars for the killings.

Like many religions around the world, Norway's church – a Protestant Lutheran denomination that is the most extensive faith community in the country – historically excluded LGBTQ+ individuals, refusing to allow them to become pastors or from marrying in religious ceremonies. In the 1950s, church leaders referred to homosexual individuals as a “social danger of global proportions”.

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

In 2007, Norway's church began ordaining homosexual ministers, and gay and lesbian couples were permitted to marry in church starting in 2017. In 2023, the bishop took part in Oslo’s Pride parade in what was described as a first for the church.

The apology on Thursday was met with varied responses. The head of a network of Christian lesbians in Norway, Hanne Marie, herself a gay pastor, called it “an important reparation” and a point in time that “signaled the conclusion of a dark chapter in the church’s history”.

For Stephen Adom, the head of Norway’s Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity, the apology represented “meaningful and vital” but was delivered “too late for those who lost their lives to AIDS … with deep sorrow in their hearts since the church viewed the disease to be God’s punishment”.

Worldwide, several faith-based organizations have attempted to offer apologies for historical treatment regarding LGBTQ+ individuals. During 2023, England's church apologised for what it described as its “shameful” treatment, although it persists in refusing to authorize same-sex weddings within the church.

Likewise, the Methodist Church in Ireland the previous year apologised for “inadequate pastoral assistance and care” regarding the LGBTQ+ community and family members, but remained staunch in its belief that marriage should only represent a bond between male and female.

Earlier this year, the United Church of Canada delivered a statement of regret toward Two-Spirit and LGBTQIA+ individuals, labeling it a confirmation of its “pledge to complete acceptance and open hospitality” in every part of the church's activities.

“We have failed to honor and appreciate the wonderful diversity of creation,” Michael Blair, the top administrative leader of the church, said. “We have hurt individuals in place of fostering completeness. We are sorry.”