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Amid deep red curtains at a leading Oslo LGBTQ+ venue, the Church of Norway issued a formal apology for hurtful actions and exclusion it had inflicted.

“Norway's church has caused LGBTQ+ people harm, suffering and humiliation,” the presiding bishop, the church leader, stated on Thursday. “This should never have happened and which is the reason I offer my apology now.”

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

The apology occurred at the London Pub establishment, a bar that was one of two targeted in the 2022 shooting that resulted in two deaths and caused serious injuries to nine at Oslo's Pride event. A Norwegian of Iranian origin, who had pledged allegiance to Islamic State, received a sentence to at least 30 years in prison for the killings.

In common with various worldwide religions, the Norwegian Lutheran Church – a Protestant Lutheran denomination that is Norway’s largest faith community – historically excluded LGBTQ+ people, denying them the opportunity from joining the clergy or to marry in church. Back in the 1950s, the church’s bishops characterized LGBTQ+ persons as “a worldwide social threat”.

However, as Norway's society grew more liberal, emerging as the world's second to legalize same-sex partnerships back in 1993 and by 2009 the first Scandinavian country to approve gay marriage, the religious institution eventually adapted.

In 2007, Norway's church began ordaining gay pastors, and gay and lesbian couples could have church weddings since 2017. During 2023, the bishop took part in Oslo’s Pride parade in what was described as a historic moment for the religious institution.

Thursday’s apology was met with varied responses. The leader of an organization representing Norwegian Christian lesbians, Pedersen-Eriksen, who is also a gay pastor, called it “a significant step toward healing” and a point in time that “finally marked the end of a painful era within the church's past”.

For Stephen Adom, the leader of the Norwegian Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity, the statement was “meaningful and vital” but had come “too late for those who passed away from AIDS … with hearts filled with anguish as the church regarded the disease as divine punishment”.

Internationally, a few churches have tried to make amends for their past behavior towards LGBTQ+ people. Last year, the Church of England expressed regret for what it referred to as “disgraceful” conduct, though it persists in refusing to permit gay marriages in church.

In a similar vein, the Methodist Church located in Ireland in the past year apologised for “inadequate pastoral assistance and care” to LGBTQ+ people and their relatives, but held fast in the view that marriage should only represent a partnership of one man and one woman.

Several months ago, Canada's United Church issued an apology toward Two-Spirit and LGBTQIA+ individuals, characterizing it as a renewed commitment of the church's “dedication to welcoming all and full inclusion” in all aspects of church life.

“We did not manage to rejoice and take pleasure in all of your beautiful creation,” Reverend Blair, the church's general secretary, said. “We have hurt individuals rather than pursuing healing. We are sorry.”