Norway's Church Delivers Apology to LGBTQ+ Community for ‘Pain, Shame and Significant Harm’

Against red stage curtains at a leading Oslo LGBTQ+ venue, the Norwegian Lutheran Church offered an apology for hurtful actions and exclusion it had inflicted.

“The national church has caused LGBTQ+ individuals harm, suffering and humiliation,” the presiding bishop, the church leader, announced on Thursday. “It was wrong for this to take place and that is why today I say sorry.”

The “discrimination, unequal treatment and harassment” led to certain individuals abandoning their faith, Tveit recognized. A worship service at Oslo Cathedral was arranged to come after the apology.

The apology occurred at the London Pub, one of two bars involved in the 2022 shooting that killed two people and caused serious injuries to nine during Oslo’s Pride celebrations. A Norwegian of Iranian origin, who had pledged allegiance to Islamic State, received a sentence to no less than 30 years behind bars for the killings.

In common with various worldwide religions, the Norwegian Lutheran Church – a Lutheran evangelical community that is the biggest religious group in Norway – historically excluded LGBTQ+ people, preventing them from joining the clergy or to marry in church. Back in the 1950s, church leaders described gay people as “a worldwide social threat”.

But as Norwegian society became increasingly liberal, ranking as the second globally to legalize same-sex partnerships back in 1993 and in 2009 the first Scandinavian country to allow same-sex marriage, the church slowly followed.

Back in 2007, the Church of Norway commenced the ordination of LGBTQ+ clergy, and gay and lesbian couples were permitted to get married in religious ceremonies since 2017. Last year, the bishop took part in the Pride march in Oslo in what was noted as a historic moment for the religious institution.

The apology on Thursday elicited a mixed reaction. The leader of an organization for Christian lesbians in Norway, Hanne Marie Pedersen-Eriksen, herself a gay pastor, referred to it as “a crucial act of amends” and a moment that “represented the closure of a dark chapter in the history of the church”.

As stated by Stephen Adom, the leader of the Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity in Norway, the apology was “strong and important” but had come “overdue for individuals among us who died of Aids … with deep sorrow in their hearts because the church considered the epidemic as punishment from God”.

Internationally, several faith-based organizations have attempted to make amends for their past behavior regarding LGBTQ+ individuals. During 2023, the Anglican Church said sorry for what it characterized as “shameful” actions, though it persists in refusing to permit gay marriages in religious settings.

In a similar vein, the Methodist Church located in Ireland the previous year expressed regret for “shortcomings in pastoral care and support” to LGBTQ+ people and their relatives, but stayed firm in its belief that marriage should only represent a bond between male and female.

Several months ago, Canada's United Church delivered a statement of regret toward Two-Spirit and LGBTQIA+ individuals, describing it as a confirmation 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,” Reverend Blair, the top administrative leader of the church, said. “We caused pain to people in place of fostering completeness. We are sorry.”