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Set against crimson theater drapes at a leading Oslo LGBTQ+ venue, Norway's national church issued a formal apology for hurtful actions and exclusion caused by the church.

“The church in Norway has inflicted LGBTQ+ people shame, great harm and pain,” the presiding bishop, Olav Fykse Tveit, announced on Thursday. “This ought not to have occurred and this is why I apologise today.”

“Harassment, discrimination and unfair treatment” resulted in a loss of faith for some, the bishop admitted. A worship service at the cathedral in Oslo was arranged to take place after his statement.

The apology was delivered at the London Pub, one of two bars targeted in the 2022 violent incident that took two lives and left nine seriously injured at Oslo's Pride event. A Norwegian citizen originally from Iran, who had pledged allegiance to Islamic State, received a sentence to at least 30 years behind bars for carrying out the attacks.

In common with various worldwide religions, the Church of Norway – an evangelical Lutheran church that is the biggest religious group in Norway – had long marginalised LGBTQ+ individuals, preventing them from joining the clergy or to marry in church. In the 1950s, church leaders referred to homosexual individuals as “a worldwide social threat”.

However, as Norway's society grew more liberal, ranking as the second globally to allow same-sex registered partnerships in 1993 and by 2009 the first Scandinavian country to allow same-sex marriage, the church gradually changed.

In 2007, the Church of Norway began ordaining gay pastors, and gay and lesbian couples could have church weddings from 2017 onward. Last year, Tveit participated in the Pride march in Oslo in what was described as an unprecedented step for the church.

The apology on Thursday was met with a mixed reaction. The leader of an organization representing Norwegian Christian lesbians, Hanne Marie, who is also a gay pastor, called it “an important reparation” and a moment that “finally marked the end of a dark chapter in the history of the church”.

According to Stephen Adom, the leader of Norway’s Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity, the apology represented “powerful and significant” but was delivered “not in time for those who lost their lives to AIDS … with hearts filled with anguish since the church viewed the crisis as divine punishment”.

Worldwide, several faith-based organizations have tried to make amends for their actions towards LGBTQ+ people. During 2023, the Church of England apologised for what it described as “disgraceful” conduct, though it continues to refuse to permit gay marriages within the church.

Likewise, the Methodist Church located in Ireland in the past year apologised for “inadequate pastoral assistance and care” regarding the LGBTQ+ community and family members, but remained staunch 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, characterizing 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,” Michael Blair, the top administrative leader of the church, remarked. “We have hurt individuals in place of fostering completeness. We apologize.”