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Amid deep red curtains at one of Oslo’s most prominent LGBTQ+ spaces, the Norwegian Lutheran Church expressed regret for discrimination and harm it had inflicted.

“Norway's church has brought LGBTQ+ individuals harm, suffering and humiliation,” the presiding bishop, Bishop Tveit, stated during a Thursday event. “It was wrong for this to take place and that is why today I say sorry.”

The “discrimination, unequal treatment and harassment” led to some to lose their faith, Tveit recognized. A worship service at the cathedral in Oslo was scheduled to take place after his statement.

The statement of regret occurred at a venue called London Pub, one of two bars attacked during the 2022 attack that resulted in two deaths and caused serious injuries to nine at Oslo's Pride event. An individual of Iranian descent living in Norway, who had pledged allegiance to Islamic State, received a sentence to at least 30 years in prison for carrying out the attacks.

Like many religions around the world, the Church of Norway – a Lutheran evangelical community that is the most extensive faith community in the country – historically excluded the LGBTQ+ community, refusing to allow them from serving as pastors or to marry in church. Back in the 1950s, church leaders referred to homosexual individuals as a “social danger of global proportions”.

But as Norwegian society became increasingly liberal, ranking as the second globally to permit registered partnerships for same-sex couples during 1993 and by 2009 the initial Nordic nation to approve gay marriage, the church slowly followed.

Back in 2007, the Church of Norway commenced the ordination of LGBTQ+ clergy, and same-sex couples could have church weddings since 2017. During 2023, Tveit joined in Oslo’s Pride parade in what was noted as an unprecedented step for the church.

Thursday’s apology was met with differing opinions. The leader of an organization for Christian lesbians in Norway, Hanne Marie, herself a gay pastor, called it “an important reparation” and a moment that “finally marked the end of a dark chapter within the church's past”.

According to Stephen Adom, the leader of Norway’s Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity, the statement was “strong and important” but was delivered “overdue for individuals who lost their lives to AIDS … carrying heavy hearts as the church regarded the disease as punishment from God”.

Worldwide, several faith-based organizations have attempted to offer apologies for their past behavior towards LGBTQ+ people. During 2023, England's church expressed regret for what it characterized as “shameful” actions, even as it continues to refuse to permit gay marriages in religious settings.

In a similar vein, the Methodist Church located in Ireland the previous year apologised for its “failures in pastoral support and care” to LGBTQ+ people and their relatives, but held fast in its conviction that marriage could only be a union between a man and a woman.

Earlier this year, the United Church based in Canada delivered a statement of regret to Two-Spirit and LGBTQIA+ groups, labeling it a renewed commitment 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 all of your beautiful creation,” Rev Michael Blair, the top administrative leader of the church, said. “We have hurt individuals in place of fostering completeness. We apologize.”