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Set against crimson theater drapes at a well-known Oslo location for LGBTQ+ gatherings, Norway's national church issued a formal apology for discrimination and harm caused by the church.

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

“Unequal treatment, harassment and discrimination” had caused a loss of faith for some, Tveit acknowledged. A worship service at Oslo's main cathedral was arranged to take place after his statement.

The statement of regret was delivered at the London Pub, one among two bars attacked during the 2022 attack that resulted in two deaths and caused serious injuries to nine at Oslo's Pride event. 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 killings.

Similar to numerous global faiths, Norway's church – an evangelical Lutheran church that is the most extensive faith community in the country – had long marginalised the LGBTQ+ community, denying them the opportunity from joining the clergy or from marrying in religious ceremonies. Back in the 1950s, the church’s bishops referred to homosexual individuals as “a global-scale societal hazard”.

Yet, with Norwegian society turning more progressive, emerging as the world's second to permit registered partnerships for same-sex couples during 1993 and in 2009 the initial Nordic nation to legalize same-sex marriage, the church slowly followed.

In 2007, Norway's church started appointing homosexual ministers, and gay and lesbian couples have been able to get married in religious ceremonies from 2017 onward. Last year, Tveit participated in Oslo’s Pride parade in what was called a historic moment for the religious institution.

The apology on Thursday was met with differing opinions. The director of a group for Christian lesbians in Norway, Hanne Marie, herself a gay pastor, called it “a crucial act of amends” and a moment that “signaled the conclusion of a dark chapter in the church’s history”.

According to Stephen Adom, the director of the Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity in Norway, the apology represented “strong and important” but had come “overdue for individuals who lost their lives to AIDS … with deep sorrow in their hearts since the church viewed the epidemic to be God’s punishment”.

Worldwide, a few churches have sought to make amends for their past behavior regarding LGBTQ+ individuals. In 2023, the Church of England apologised for what it characterized as “disgraceful” conduct, though it persists in refusing to authorize same-sex weddings within the church.

In a similar vein, Ireland's Methodist Church last year expressed regret for “shortcomings in pastoral care and support” to LGBTQ+ people and their families, but stayed firm in its conviction that matrimony must only constitute a bond between male and female.

In the early part of this year, Canada's United Church delivered a statement of regret to two spirit and LGBTQIA+ communities, characterizing it as a reaffirmation of the church's “dedication to welcoming all and full inclusion” in all aspects of church life.

“We have not succeeded to celebrate and delight in the wonderful diversity of creation,” Rev Michael Blair, the general secretary of the church, said. “We have wounded people in place of fostering completeness. We express our regret.”