Norway's Church Makes Formal Apology to LGBTQ+ People for ‘Harm, Shame and Suffering’
Amid crimson theater drapes at one of Oslo’s most prominent LGBTQ+ spaces, the Norwegian Lutheran Church 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 presiding bishop, Olav Fykse Tveit, declared during a Thursday event. “This should never have happened and that is why I apologise today.”
“Harassment, discrimination and unfair treatment” had caused a loss of faith for some, the bishop admitted. A worship service at Oslo Cathedral was scheduled to follow his apology.
The statement of regret occurred at a venue called London Pub, a bar that was one of two attacked during the 2022 attack that resulted in two deaths and left nine seriously injured at Oslo's Pride event. An individual of Iranian descent living in Norway, who expressed support for ISIS, received a sentence to no less than 30 years behind bars for carrying out the attacks.
Like many religions around the world, the Norwegian Lutheran Church – an evangelical Lutheran church that is the biggest religious group in Norway – had long marginalised LGBTQ+ individuals, preventing them from serving as pastors or to marry in church. In the 1950s, the church’s bishops described gay people as a “social danger of global proportions”.
However, as Norway's society grew more liberal, emerging as the world's second to permit registered partnerships for same-sex couples in 1993 and during 2009 the initial Nordic nation to allow same-sex marriage, the church slowly followed.
Back in 2007, the Church of Norway began ordaining gay pastors, and LGBTQ+ partners have been able to have church weddings starting in 2017. Last year, Tveit participated in the Oslo Pride event in what was called a historic moment for the religious institution.
The apology on Thursday elicited varied responses. The leader of an organization for Christian lesbians in Norway, Pedersen-Eriksen, herself a gay pastor, called it “a crucial act of amends” and an occasion that “represented the closure 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 “strong and important” but had come “overdue for individuals among us who died of Aids … with deep sorrow in their hearts because the church considered the epidemic as punishment from God”.
Globally, a handful of religious institutions have attempted to make amends for their actions towards LGBTQ+ people. In 2023, the Church of England expressed regret for what it characterized as “shameful” actions, even as it continues to refuse to authorize same-sex weddings in religious settings.
In a similar vein, Ireland's Methodist Church last year issued an apology for its “failures in pastoral support and care” regarding the LGBTQ+ community and their families, but stayed firm in its belief that matrimony must only constitute a bond between male and female.
Several months ago, the United Church based in Canada offered an apology toward Two-Spirit and LGBTQIA+ individuals, describing it as a renewed commitment of the church's “dedication to welcoming all and full inclusion” in all aspects of church life.
“We have failed to honor and appreciate the beauty of all creation,” Michael Blair, the church's general secretary, said. “We caused pain to people in place of fostering completeness. We apologize.”
