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Amid crimson theater drapes at a well-known Oslo location for LGBTQ+ gatherings, the Norwegian Lutheran Church issued a formal apology for harm and unequal treatment perpetrated over the years.

“The national church has inflicted the LGBTQ+ community pain, shame and significant harm,” the presiding bishop, Olav Fykse Tveit, declared on Thursday. “This should never have happened and which is the reason I apologise today.”

The “discrimination, unequal treatment and harassment” led to a loss of faith for some, Tveit acknowledged. A church service at the cathedral in Oslo was scheduled to come after the apology.

The apology was delivered at the London Pub, a bar that was one of two targeted in the 2022 violent incident that resulted in two deaths and injured nine people severely at Oslo's Pride event. A Norwegian of Iranian origin, who had pledged allegiance to Islamic State, was given a prison term to no less than 30 years behind bars for the murders.

In common with various worldwide religions, the Norwegian Lutheran Church – a Protestant Lutheran denomination that is the most extensive faith community in the country – historically excluded the LGBTQ+ community, refusing to allow them from joining the clergy or from marrying in religious ceremonies. In the 1950s, church leaders characterized LGBTQ+ persons as a “social danger of global proportions”.

However, as Norway's society grew more liberal, ranking as the second globally to allow same-sex registered partnerships during 1993 and during 2009 the first Scandinavian country to legalize same-sex marriage, the religious institution eventually adapted.

During 2007, the Church of Norway commenced the ordination of gay pastors, and gay and lesbian couples have been able to have church weddings starting in 2017. During 2023, the bishop took part in the Pride march in Oslo in what was noted as an unprecedented step for the church.

The apology on Thursday received varied responses. The head of a network representing Norwegian Christian lesbians, Hanne Marie Pedersen-Eriksen, a lesbian minister herself, described it as “a crucial act of amends” and a moment that “signaled the conclusion of a dark chapter within the church's past”.

As stated by Stephen Adom, the leader of Norway’s Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity, the apology was “powerful and significant” but was delivered “overdue for individuals who lost their lives to AIDS … with deep sorrow in their hearts as the church regarded the crisis to be God’s punishment”.

Worldwide, a few churches have sought to offer apologies for historical treatment regarding LGBTQ+ individuals. Last year, the Church of England apologised for what it characterized as “disgraceful” conduct, though it continues to refuse to allow same-sex marriages in church.

Similarly, Ireland's Methodist Church last year expressed regret for “shortcomings in pastoral care and support” toward LGBTQ+ individuals and their families, but remained staunch in its belief that matrimony must only constitute a bond between male and female.

Several months ago, Canada's United Church issued an apology to two spirit and LGBTQIA+ communities, characterizing it as a confirmation of the church’s “commitment to radical hospitality and full inclusion” in every part of the church's activities.

“We did not manage to rejoice and take pleasure in the beauty of all creation,” Rev Michael Blair, the top administrative leader of the church, remarked. “We have wounded people in place of fostering completeness. We express our regret.”