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Amid deep red curtains at a well-known Oslo location for LGBTQ+ gatherings, the Norwegian Lutheran Church expressed regret for discrimination and harm perpetrated over the years.

“The church in Norway has caused LGBTQ+ people harm, suffering and humiliation,” the presiding bishop, the church leader, declared on Thursday. “This should never have happened and which is the reason today I say sorry.”

The “discrimination, unequal treatment and harassment” led to a loss of faith for some, Tveit recognized. A church service at Oslo's main cathedral was planned to take place after his statement.

This formal apology was delivered at a venue called London Pub, one among two bars involved in the 2022 shooting that resulted in two deaths and injured nine people severely during Oslo’s Pride celebrations. An individual of Iranian descent living in Norway, who had pledged allegiance to Islamic State, was given a prison term to at least 30 years in incarceration for the killings.

Similar to numerous global faiths, the Norwegian Lutheran Church – a Protestant Lutheran denomination that is the biggest religious group in Norway – historically excluded LGBTQ+ individuals, refusing to allow them from joining the clergy or to marry in church. During the 1950s, bishops of the church referred to homosexual individuals as “a worldwide social threat”.

However, as Norway's society grew more liberal, ranking as the second globally to allow same-sex registered partnerships back in 1993 and by 2009 the initial Nordic nation to approve gay marriage, the religious institution eventually adapted.

Back in 2007, the Norwegian Lutheran Church started appointing gay pastors, and LGBTQ+ partners have been able to marry in church since 2017. Last year, the bishop took part in the Oslo Pride event in what was called a first for the church.

The apology on Thursday was met with differing opinions. The leader of an organization for Christian lesbians in Norway, Hanne Marie Pedersen-Eriksen, who is also a gay pastor, referred to it as “a crucial act of amends” and an occasion that “finally marked the end of a difficult period in the church’s history”.

According to Stephen Adom, the leader of the Norwegian Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity, the statement was “strong and important” but had come “overdue for individuals who passed away from AIDS … carrying heavy hearts since the church viewed the disease as divine punishment”.

Internationally, several faith-based organizations have attempted to offer apologies for historical treatment towards LGBTQ+ people. Last year, England's church apologised for what it referred to as “disgraceful” conduct, although it persists in refusing to allow same-sex marriages within the church.

In a similar vein, Ireland's Methodist Church in the past year expressed regret for “shortcomings in pastoral care and support” regarding the LGBTQ+ community and their families, but stayed firm in the view that marriage should only represent a partnership of one man and one woman.

In the early part of this year, the United Church of Canada issued an apology toward Two-Spirit and LGBTQIA+ individuals, characterizing it as a confirmation of the church’s “commitment to radical hospitality and full inclusion” throughout every area of church life.

“We have failed to honor and appreciate the beauty of all creation,” Rev Michael Blair, the church's general secretary, stated. “We have hurt individuals instead of seeking wholeness. We express our regret.”