Norway's Church Issues Formal Apology to LGBTQ+ People for ‘Shame, Great Harm and Pain’

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

“The national church has brought LGBTQ+ individuals pain, shame and significant harm,” the lead bishop, the church leader, declared on Thursday. “This ought not to have occurred and which is the reason today I say sorry.”

“Unequal treatment, harassment and discrimination” led to a loss of faith for some, Tveit acknowledged. A worship service at Oslo Cathedral was planned to come after the apology.

The statement of regret took place at the London Pub, one of two bars involved in the 2022 violent incident that resulted in two deaths and caused serious injuries to nine during Oslo’s Pride celebrations. A Norwegian citizen originally from Iran, 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.

Like many religions around the world, the Norwegian Lutheran Church – a Lutheran evangelical community that is the biggest religious group in Norway – historically excluded LGBTQ+ people, preventing them from serving as pastors or from marrying in religious ceremonies. Back in the 1950s, bishops of the church described gay people as “a global-scale societal hazard”.

Yet, with Norwegian society turning more progressive, becoming the second in the world to permit registered partnerships for same-sex couples back in 1993 and during 2009 the first in Scandinavia to legalize same-sex marriage, the church slowly followed.

Back in 2007, Norway's church commenced the ordination of LGBTQ+ clergy, and LGBTQ+ partners have been able to have church weddings starting in 2017. During 2023, the bishop took part in the Oslo Pride event in what was described as a historic moment for the religious institution.

The Thursday statement of regret elicited a mixed reaction. The leader of an organization of Christian lesbians in Norway, Hanne Marie Pedersen-Eriksen, who is also a gay pastor, described it as “a crucial act of amends” and a moment that “finally marked the end of a painful era in the church’s history”.

As stated by Stephen Adom, the head of the Norwegian Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity, the apology represented “meaningful and vital” but had come “too late for those who lost their lives to AIDS … with hearts filled with anguish since the church viewed the disease as punishment from God”.

Worldwide, several faith-based organizations have tried to offer apologies for their actions concerning the LGBTQ+ community. Last year, the Anglican Church said sorry for what it referred to as “shameful” actions, although it continues to refuse to permit gay marriages within the church.

Likewise, the Methodist Church located in Ireland in the past year expressed regret for “shortcomings in pastoral care and support” regarding the LGBTQ+ community and family members, but stayed firm in its conviction that matrimony must only constitute a bond between male and female.

Several months ago, Canada's United Church offered an apology to two spirit and LGBTQIA+ communities, labeling it a confirmation of the church’s “commitment to radical hospitality and full inclusion” in every part of the church's activities.

“We have not succeeded to rejoice and take pleasure in the wonderful diversity of creation,” Reverend Blair, the general secretary of the church, stated. “We have hurt individuals in place of fostering completeness. We apologize.”