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Set against crimson theater drapes at a well-known Oslo location for LGBTQ+ gatherings, Norway's national church issued a formal apology for harm and unequal treatment perpetrated over the years.

“The church in Norway has inflicted the LGBTQ+ community pain, shame and significant harm,” the presiding bishop, the church leader, stated on Thursday. “It was wrong for this to take place and this is why I offer my apology now.”

“Harassment, discrimination and unfair treatment” had caused certain individuals abandoning their faith, the bishop admitted. A church service at the cathedral in Oslo was arranged to come after the apology.

The statement of regret was delivered at the London Pub, one of two bars targeted in the 2022 shooting that killed two people and injured nine people severely during Oslo’s Pride celebrations. A Norwegian of Iranian origin, who had pledged allegiance to Islamic State, was given a prison term to no less than 30 years in incarceration for the murders.

Similar to numerous global faiths, the Norwegian Lutheran Church – an evangelical Lutheran church that is the biggest religious group in Norway – historically excluded the LGBTQ+ community, preventing them from joining the clergy or to marry in church. Back in the 1950s, church leaders referred to homosexual individuals as “a worldwide social threat”.

Yet, with Norwegian society turning more progressive, ranking as the second globally to legalize same-sex partnerships in 1993 and by 2009 the first Scandinavian country to allow same-sex marriage, the church slowly followed.

In 2007, Norway's church commenced the ordination of LGBTQ+ clergy, and gay and lesbian couples could get married in religious ceremonies starting in 2017. During 2023, the bishop took part in Oslo’s Pride parade in what was called a historic moment for the religious institution.

Thursday’s apology received varied responses. The head of a network of Christian lesbians in Norway, 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 difficult period in the history of the church”.

According to Stephen Adom, the leader of the Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity in Norway, the statement was “meaningful and vital” but arrived “too late for those among us who died of Aids … with hearts filled with anguish as the church regarded the epidemic as divine punishment”.

Worldwide, a few churches have sought to offer apologies for their past behavior concerning the LGBTQ+ community. In 2023, the Anglican Church said sorry for what it characterized as “shameful” actions, though it persists in refusing to permit gay marriages within the church.

Similarly, the Methodist Church located in Ireland the previous year apologised for “shortcomings in pastoral care and support” regarding the LGBTQ+ community and their families, but held fast in the view that marriage could only be a union between a man and a woman.

In the early part of this year, the United Church based in Canada delivered a statement of regret to Two-Spirit and LGBTQIA+ groups, characterizing it as a reaffirmation of the church’s “commitment to radical hospitality and full inclusion” in every part of the church's activities.

“We have not succeeded to honor and appreciate the beauty of all creation,” Reverend Blair, the church's general secretary, stated. “We caused pain to people rather than pursuing healing. We are sorry.”