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Set against crimson theater drapes at a leading Oslo LGBTQ+ venue, the Church of Norway expressed regret for discrimination and harm caused by the church.

“The church in Norway has inflicted the LGBTQ+ community pain, shame and significant harm,” the lead bishop, Bishop Tveit, declared on Thursday. “It was wrong for this to take place and this is why I offer my apology now.”

“Harassment, discrimination and unfair treatment” had caused certain individuals abandoning their faith, Tveit recognized. A church service at Oslo Cathedral was scheduled to follow his apology.

The apology took place at a venue called London Pub, a bar that was one of two targeted in the 2022 attack that killed two people and caused serious injuries to nine throughout the Oslo Pride festivities. A Norwegian citizen originally from Iran, who swore loyalty to Islamic State, was sentenced to no less than 30 years in incarceration for carrying out the attacks.

Like many religions around the world, the Church of Norway – a Lutheran evangelical community that is Norway’s largest faith community – historically excluded the LGBTQ+ community, preventing them to become pastors or to have church weddings. During the 1950s, bishops of the church described gay people as “a worldwide social threat”.

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

During 2007, the Church of Norway began ordaining gay pastors, and LGBTQ+ partners could marry in church from 2017 onward. In 2023, Tveit participated in the Oslo Pride event in what was described as an unprecedented step for the church.

The apology on Thursday received a mixed reaction. The head of a network representing Norwegian Christian lesbians, Hanne Marie, who is also a gay pastor, called it “an important reparation” and a moment that “signaled the conclusion of a painful era within the church's past”.

According to Stephen Adom, the head of Norway’s Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity, the statement was “strong and important” but was delivered “overdue for individuals who lost their lives to AIDS … carrying heavy hearts as the church regarded the disease to be God’s punishment”.

Globally, a few churches have tried to offer apologies for their actions towards LGBTQ+ people. Last year, the Anglican Church apologised for what it referred to as “disgraceful” conduct, even as it persists in refusing to authorize same-sex weddings in church.

In a similar vein, Ireland's Methodist Church last year issued an apology for “inadequate pastoral assistance and care” 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, the United Church of Canada offered an apology to Two-Spirit and LGBTQIA+ groups, describing it as a reaffirmation of the church's “dedication to welcoming all and full inclusion” throughout every area of church life.

“We have failed to celebrate and delight in the wonderful diversity of creation,” Rev Michael Blair, the top administrative leader of the church, said. “We have hurt individuals rather than pursuing healing. We express our regret.”