🔗 Share this article

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

“The church in Norway has caused LGBTQ+ people shame, great harm and pain,” the presiding bishop, the church leader, declared during a Thursday event. “This should never have happened and that is why I offer my apology now.”

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

The apology took place at the London Pub, one of two bars involved in the 2022 shooting that killed two people and injured nine people severely throughout the Oslo Pride festivities. A Norwegian citizen originally from Iran, who swore loyalty to Islamic State, was sentenced to no less than 30 years in prison for the murders.

Similar to numerous global faiths, the Church of Norway – a Lutheran evangelical community that is Norway’s largest faith community – had long marginalised the LGBTQ+ community, denying them the opportunity from serving as pastors or to marry in church. In the 1950s, the church’s bishops characterized LGBTQ+ persons as “a worldwide social threat”.

However, as Norway's society grew more liberal, ranking as the second globally 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, the Norwegian Lutheran Church started appointing homosexual ministers, and LGBTQ+ partners have been able to have church weddings from 2017 onward. During 2023, the bishop took part in the Pride march in Oslo in what was called a first for the church.

The Thursday statement of regret received a mixed reaction. The leader of an organization of Christian lesbians in Norway, Hanne Marie Pedersen-Eriksen, who is also a gay pastor, called it “a crucial act of amends” and an occasion that “signaled the conclusion of a painful era within the church's past”.

As stated by Stephen Adom, the head of Norway’s Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity, the statement was “strong and important” but was delivered “not in time for those who lost their lives to AIDS … with deep sorrow in their hearts as the church regarded the disease to be God’s punishment”.

Worldwide, a few churches have attempted to make amends for their past behavior towards LGBTQ+ people. Last year, the Anglican Church apologised for what it referred to as “disgraceful” conduct, although it continues to refuse to authorize same-sex weddings in church.

In a similar vein, the Methodist Church located in Ireland the previous year apologised for “shortcomings in pastoral care and support” toward LGBTQ+ individuals and their relatives, but held fast in its conviction that marriage could only be a bond between male and female.

Several months ago, Canada's United Church issued an apology to Two-Spirit and LGBTQIA+ groups, describing it as a reaffirmation 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 beauty of all creation,” Rev Michael Blair, the general secretary of the church, remarked. “We caused pain to people instead of seeking wholeness. We express our regret.”