The Norwegian Church Makes Sincere Apology to LGBTQ+ Community for ‘Shame, Great Harm and Pain’

Amid red stage curtains at one of Oslo’s most prominent LGBTQ+ spaces, the Norwegian Lutheran Church issued a formal apology for discrimination and harm it had inflicted.

“Norway's church has caused LGBTQ+ people shame, great harm and pain,” the lead bishop, the church leader, announced on Thursday. “This ought not to have occurred and that is why I apologise today.”

The “discrimination, unequal treatment and harassment” had caused a loss of faith for some, Tveit recognized. A worship service at the cathedral in Oslo was arranged to take place after his statement.

The statement of regret occurred at the London Pub, one of two bars targeted in the 2022 violent incident that resulted in two deaths and injured nine people severely throughout the Oslo Pride festivities. A Norwegian of Iranian origin, who had pledged allegiance to Islamic State, was given a prison term to no less than 30 years in incarceration for the murders.

In common with various worldwide religions, the Norwegian Lutheran Church – an evangelical Lutheran church that is Norway’s largest faith community – for years sidelined the LGBTQ+ community, refusing to allow them from joining the clergy or to have church weddings. Back in the 1950s, church leaders described gay people as “a worldwide social threat”.

Yet, with Norwegian society turning more progressive, ranking as the second globally to permit registered partnerships for same-sex couples in 1993 and in 2009 the initial Nordic nation to allow same-sex marriage, the church gradually changed.

During 2007, the Norwegian Lutheran Church started appointing gay pastors, and LGBTQ+ partners could marry in church since 2017. Last year, Tveit joined in the Oslo Pride event in what was described as a historic moment for the religious institution.

Thursday’s apology elicited differing opinions. The leader of an organization representing Norwegian Christian lesbians, Hanne Marie, herself a gay pastor, called it “an important reparation” and an occasion that “signaled the conclusion of a painful era in the history of the church”.

According to Stephen Adom, the leader of the Norwegian Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity, the apology represented “powerful and significant” but was delivered “too late for those among us who died of Aids … carrying heavy hearts since the church viewed the disease as divine punishment”.

Worldwide, a few churches have tried to offer apologies for historical treatment concerning the LGBTQ+ community. Last year, the Anglican Church said sorry for what it described as its “shameful” treatment, even as it continues to refuse to allow same-sex marriages within the church.

Likewise, the Methodist Church in Ireland the previous year expressed regret for its “failures in pastoral support and care” toward LGBTQ+ individuals and their relatives, but held fast in its belief that marriage could only be a partnership of one man and one woman.

Several months ago, the United Church based in Canada issued an apology to Two-Spirit and LGBTQIA+ groups, characterizing it as a reaffirmation of the church’s “commitment to radical hospitality and full inclusion” in all aspects of church life.

“We have failed to celebrate and delight in all of your beautiful creation,” Rev Michael Blair, the general secretary of the church, remarked. “We have wounded people rather than pursuing healing. We express our regret.”