Church of Norway Makes Formal Apology to LGBTQ+ Community for ‘Pain, Shame and Significant Harm’

Against deep red curtains at one of Oslo’s most prominent LGBTQ+ spaces, Norway's national church 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 lead bishop, Bishop Tveit, declared on Thursday. “This should never have happened and that is why I offer my apology now.”

The “discrimination, unequal treatment and harassment” led to certain individuals abandoning their faith, Tveit acknowledged. A religious service at the cathedral in Oslo was planned to come after the apology.

The apology took place at the London Pub establishment, one among 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 swore loyalty to Islamic State, was sentenced to at least 30 years behind bars for the murders.

Similar to numerous global faiths, the Church of Norway – an evangelical Lutheran church that is the most extensive faith community in the country – historically excluded the LGBTQ+ community, preventing them from serving as pastors or from marrying in religious ceremonies. Back in the 1950s, the church’s bishops referred to homosexual individuals as a “social danger of global proportions”.

But as Norwegian society became increasingly liberal, ranking as the second globally to legalize same-sex partnerships back in 1993 and by 2009 the initial Nordic nation to legalize same-sex marriage, the church gradually changed.

Back in 2007, the Norwegian Lutheran Church started appointing gay pastors, and same-sex couples have been able to have church weddings since 2017. During 2023, Tveit participated in the Oslo Pride event in what was called a historic moment for the religious institution.

Thursday’s apology was met with varied responses. The director of a group representing Norwegian Christian lesbians, Pedersen-Eriksen, who is also a gay pastor, referred to it as “a crucial act of amends” and an occasion that “represented the closure of a difficult period within the church's past”.

For Stephen Adom, the leader of the Norwegian Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity, the statement was “strong and important” but was delivered “overdue for individuals among us who died of Aids … carrying heavy hearts because the church considered the crisis as punishment from God”.

Internationally, a few churches have tried to reconcile for their past behavior towards LGBTQ+ people. Last year, England's church apologised for what it described as “shameful” actions, even as it still declines to permit gay marriages in religious settings.

Similarly, the Methodist Church located in Ireland in the past year expressed regret for its “failures in pastoral support and care” to LGBTQ+ people and their relatives, but held fast in the view that marriage should only represent a partnership of one man and one woman.

Earlier this year, the United Church of Canada issued an apology to Two-Spirit and LGBTQIA+ groups, describing it as a confirmation of the church’s “commitment to radical hospitality and full inclusion” throughout every area of church life.

“We have failed to honor and appreciate the wonderful diversity of creation,” Rev Michael Blair, the general secretary of the church, stated. “We caused pain to people instead of seeking wholeness. We express our regret.”