The Norwegian Church Delivers Sincere Apology to LGBTQ+ People for ‘Harm, Shame and Suffering’
Set against red stage curtains at a leading Oslo LGBTQ+ venue, the Norwegian Lutheran Church issued a formal apology for hurtful actions and exclusion it had inflicted.
“The church in Norway has inflicted LGBTQ+ people harm, suffering and humiliation,” the lead bishop, Bishop Tveit, declared during a Thursday event. “This ought not to have occurred and that is why I offer my apology now.”
“Harassment, discrimination and unfair treatment” had caused some to lose their faith, Tveit acknowledged. A religious service at Oslo Cathedral was arranged to take place after his statement.
This formal apology was delivered at the London Pub, one of two bars targeted in the 2022 shooting that killed two people and injured nine people severely during Oslo’s Pride celebrations. A Norwegian citizen originally from Iran, who had pledged allegiance to Islamic State, received a sentence to a minimum of three decades behind bars for the killings.
Similar to numerous global faiths, the Church of Norway – an evangelical Lutheran church that is Norway’s largest faith community – for years sidelined the LGBTQ+ community, preventing them to become pastors or to marry in church. During the 1950s, church leaders characterized LGBTQ+ persons as “a global-scale societal hazard”.
Yet, with Norwegian society turning more progressive, ranking as the second globally to allow same-sex registered partnerships during 1993 and by 2009 the first in Scandinavia to approve gay marriage, the church gradually changed.
During 2007, the Norwegian Lutheran Church started appointing LGBTQ+ clergy, and LGBTQ+ partners have been able to marry in church since 2017. During 2023, the bishop took part in Oslo’s Pride parade in what was called an unprecedented step for the church.
The apology on Thursday received varied responses. The leader of an organization for Christian lesbians in Norway, Pedersen-Eriksen, herself a gay pastor, described it as “a significant step toward healing” and a moment that “represented the closure of a dark chapter within the church's past”.
For Stephen Adom, the director of the Norwegian Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity, the statement was “meaningful and vital” but was delivered “not in time for those who passed away from AIDS … with hearts filled with anguish as the church regarded the epidemic as divine punishment”.
Worldwide, a handful of religious institutions have tried to make amends for historical treatment concerning the LGBTQ+ community. During 2023, England's church said sorry for what it referred to as its “shameful” treatment, even as it persists in refusing to allow same-sex marriages in religious settings.
Similarly, Ireland's Methodist Church the previous year apologised for its “failures in pastoral support and care” toward LGBTQ+ individuals and family members, but held fast in its belief that marriage should only represent a union between a man and a woman.
Several months ago, the United Church based in Canada offered an apology to Two-Spirit and LGBTQIA+ groups, labeling it a confirmation of the church's “dedication to welcoming all and full inclusion” in every part of the church's activities.
“We have not succeeded to rejoice and take pleasure in all of your beautiful creation,” Michael Blair, the general secretary of the church, stated. “We have hurt individuals instead of seeking wholeness. We express our regret.”