Norway's Church Issues Sincere Apology to LGBTQ+ Individuals for ‘Harm, Shame and Suffering’

Against crimson theater drapes at one of Oslo’s most prominent LGBTQ+ spaces, the Norwegian Lutheran Church issued a formal apology for discrimination and harm perpetrated over the years.

“The church in Norway has caused LGBTQ+ individuals shame, great harm and pain,” the presiding bishop, the church leader, stated during a Thursday event. “It was wrong for this to take place and this is why I offer my apology now.”

“Unequal treatment, harassment and discrimination” led to some to lose their faith, the bishop admitted. A worship service at Oslo Cathedral was arranged to come after the apology.

The statement of regret was delivered at a venue called London Pub, one of two bars attacked during the 2022 attack that killed two people and left nine seriously injured throughout the Oslo Pride festivities. A Norwegian citizen originally from Iran, who swore loyalty to Islamic State, received a sentence to no less than 30 years in prison for the murders.

Like many religions around the world, the Church of Norway – a Protestant Lutheran denomination that is Norway’s largest faith community – historically excluded the LGBTQ+ community, preventing them from serving as pastors or to marry in church. Back in the 1950s, church leaders characterized LGBTQ+ persons as a “social danger of global proportions”.

However, as Norway's society grew more liberal, becoming the second in the world to legalize same-sex partnerships during 1993 and in 2009 the first Scandinavian country to approve gay marriage, the church slowly followed.

Back in 2007, the Norwegian Lutheran Church started appointing homosexual ministers, and LGBTQ+ partners were permitted to have church weddings since 2017. Last year, the bishop took part in the Pride march in Oslo in what was noted as a first for the church.

Thursday’s apology was met with varied responses. The head of a network for Christian lesbians in Norway, Hanne Marie Pedersen-Eriksen, who is also a gay pastor, called it “a significant step toward healing” and a moment that “finally marked the end of a difficult period in the history of the church”.

As stated by Stephen Adom, the director of the Norwegian Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity, the statement was “strong and important” but arrived “not in time for those who passed away from AIDS … with deep sorrow in their hearts since the church viewed the epidemic as punishment from God”.

Worldwide, several faith-based organizations have attempted to offer apologies for their past behavior towards LGBTQ+ people. In 2023, the Church of England said sorry for what it referred to as its “shameful” treatment, even as it continues to refuse to permit gay marriages in religious settings.

In a similar vein, the Methodist Church located in Ireland in the past year apologised for “shortcomings in pastoral care and support” regarding the LGBTQ+ community and their families, but stayed firm in its belief that matrimony must only constitute a partnership of one man and one woman.

In the early part of this year, Canada's United Church issued an apology to Two-Spirit and LGBTQIA+ groups, labeling it a renewed commitment of its “pledge to complete acceptance and open hospitality” in every part of the church's activities.

“We did not manage to rejoice and take pleasure in the beauty of all creation,” Michael Blair, the general secretary of the church, stated. “We have wounded people in place of fostering completeness. We are sorry.”