The Norwegian Church Makes Apology to LGBTQ+ Individuals for ‘Pain, Shame and Significant Harm’

Set against deep red curtains at a leading Oslo LGBTQ+ venue, the Norwegian Lutheran Church offered an apology for hurtful actions and exclusion perpetrated over the years.

“Norway's church has inflicted LGBTQ+ people shame, great harm and pain,” the presiding bishop, Bishop Tveit, stated on Thursday. “It was wrong for this to take place and that is why I apologise today.”

The “discrimination, unequal treatment and harassment” resulted in a loss of faith for some, the bishop admitted. A worship service at Oslo's main cathedral was arranged to come after the apology.

The statement of regret was delivered at a venue called London Pub, a bar that was one of two attacked during the 2022 attack that took two lives and caused serious injuries to nine throughout the Oslo Pride festivities. An individual of Iranian descent living in Norway, who had pledged allegiance to Islamic State, was given a prison term to no less than 30 years in incarceration for carrying out the attacks.

Similar to numerous global faiths, the Norwegian Lutheran Church – an evangelical Lutheran church that is the biggest religious group in Norway – had long marginalised the LGBTQ+ community, refusing to allow them from serving as pastors or from marrying in religious ceremonies. In the 1950s, the church’s bishops characterized LGBTQ+ persons as “a worldwide social threat”.

Yet, with Norwegian society turning more progressive, becoming the second in the world to allow same-sex registered partnerships back in 1993 and by 2009 the first in Scandinavia to allow same-sex marriage, the religious institution eventually adapted.

Back in 2007, the Church of Norway began ordaining LGBTQ+ clergy, and LGBTQ+ partners have been able to marry in church starting in 2017. During 2023, Tveit joined in the Oslo Pride event in what was noted as a historic moment for the religious institution.

Thursday’s apology received differing opinions. The head of a network for Christian lesbians in Norway, Pedersen-Eriksen, herself a gay pastor, called it “a significant step toward healing” and a point in time that “signaled the conclusion of a dark chapter in the history of the church”.

According to Stephen Adom, the head of the Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity in Norway, the apology was “powerful and significant” but was delivered “too late for those who passed away from AIDS … with deep sorrow in their hearts because the church considered the crisis as divine punishment”.

Internationally, several faith-based organizations have sought to make amends for historical treatment towards LGBTQ+ people. During 2023, the Church of England expressed regret for what it described as “shameful” actions, although it persists in refusing to allow same-sex marriages in church.

Similarly, the Methodist Church located in Ireland last 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 union between a man and a woman.

Several months ago, the United Church based in Canada issued an apology to Two-Spirit and LGBTQIA+ groups, describing it as a confirmation of the church's “dedication to welcoming all and full inclusion” throughout every area of church life.

“We did not manage to rejoice and take pleasure in the beauty of all creation,” Michael Blair, the top administrative leader of the church, stated. “We have hurt individuals in place of fostering completeness. We apologize.”