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Against crimson theater drapes at one of Oslo’s most prominent LGBTQ+ spaces, the Church of Norway issued a formal apology for discrimination and harm caused by the church.

“The church in Norway has brought LGBTQ+ people pain, shame and significant harm,” the presiding bishop, the church leader, declared during a Thursday event. “This ought not to have occurred and this is why I apologise today.”

“Harassment, discrimination and unfair treatment” led to a loss of faith for some, Tveit acknowledged. A worship service at Oslo's main cathedral was planned to take place after his statement.

The statement of regret took place at the London Pub, one among two bars involved in the 2022 violent incident that killed two people and caused serious injuries to nine at Oslo's Pride event. An individual of Iranian descent living in Norway, who expressed support for ISIS, received a sentence to at least 30 years in prison for the killings.

Like many religions around the world, Norway's church – an evangelical Lutheran church that is the most extensive faith community in the country – historically excluded LGBTQ+ people, refusing to allow them from serving as pastors or from marrying in religious ceremonies. During the 1950s, church leaders referred to homosexual individuals as “a global-scale societal hazard”.

Yet, with Norwegian society turning more progressive, emerging as the world's second to permit registered partnerships for same-sex couples back in 1993 and during 2009 the initial Nordic nation to approve gay marriage, the religious institution eventually adapted.

Back in 2007, the Church of Norway began ordaining homosexual ministers, and same-sex couples were permitted to marry in church starting in 2017. Last year, Tveit participated in the Oslo Pride event in what was noted as an unprecedented step for the church.

The Thursday statement of regret was met with varied responses. The director of a group of Christian lesbians in Norway, Hanne Marie, who is also a gay pastor, described it as “a crucial act of amends” and a point in time that “represented the closure of a dark chapter in the church’s history”.

As stated by Stephen Adom, the director of the Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity in Norway, the apology was “powerful and significant” but arrived “overdue for individuals who passed away from AIDS … with hearts filled with anguish as the church regarded the disease as punishment from God”.

Worldwide, a handful of religious institutions have tried to offer apologies for historical treatment concerning the LGBTQ+ community. Last year, the Church of England expressed regret for what it characterized as “shameful” actions, though it persists in refusing to allow same-sex marriages in religious settings.

Likewise, Ireland's Methodist Church in the past year apologised for its “failures in pastoral support and care” toward LGBTQ+ individuals and family members, but stayed firm in the view that marriage should only represent a union between a man and a woman.

Earlier this year, the United Church of Canada offered an apology to Two-Spirit and LGBTQIA+ groups, describing it as a reaffirmation of the church's “dedication to welcoming all and full inclusion” in every part of the church's activities.

“We have failed to rejoice and take pleasure in the beauty of all creation,” Michael Blair, the top administrative leader of the church, remarked. “We have hurt individuals instead of seeking wholeness. We are sorry.”