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Set against crimson theater drapes at a well-known Oslo location for LGBTQ+ gatherings, the Church of Norway expressed regret for harm and unequal treatment caused by the church.

“Norway's church has brought LGBTQ+ individuals pain, shame and significant harm,” bishop Olav Fykse Tveit, the church leader, announced on Thursday. “It was wrong for this to take place and which is the reason today I say sorry.”

“Unequal treatment, harassment and discrimination” resulted in a loss of faith for some, Tveit acknowledged. A worship service at Oslo's main cathedral was planned to come after the apology.

The statement of regret occurred at the London Pub establishment, one among two bars involved in the 2022 violent incident that killed two people and injured nine people severely throughout the Oslo Pride festivities. A Norwegian citizen originally from Iran, who swore loyalty to Islamic State, was given a prison term to no less than 30 years in incarceration for carrying out the attacks.

In common with various worldwide religions, Norway's church – a Lutheran evangelical community that is the most extensive faith community in the country – had long marginalised the LGBTQ+ community, preventing them to become pastors or to marry in church. In 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 permit registered partnerships for same-sex couples back in 1993 and in 2009 the first in Scandinavia to legalize same-sex marriage, the religious institution eventually adapted.

Back in 2007, Norway's church started appointing gay pastors, and same-sex couples have been able to marry in church since 2017. Last year, the bishop took part in the Oslo Pride event in what was noted as an unprecedented step for the church.

Thursday’s apology elicited a mixed reaction. The head of a network representing Norwegian Christian lesbians, Hanne Marie, herself a gay pastor, described it as “a significant step toward healing” and a point in time that “finally marked the end of a painful era within the church's past”.

According to Stephen Adom, the leader of the Norwegian Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity, the statement was “powerful and significant” but was delivered “not in time for those among us who died of Aids … with hearts filled with anguish since the church viewed the epidemic as divine punishment”.

Worldwide, several faith-based organizations have tried to offer apologies for their actions concerning the LGBTQ+ community. During 2023, England's church apologised for what it characterized as “disgraceful” conduct, although it persists in refusing to permit gay marriages in religious settings.

In a similar vein, Ireland's Methodist Church in the past year apologised for “inadequate pastoral assistance and care” toward LGBTQ+ individuals and family members, but stayed firm in its conviction that marriage should only represent a partnership of one man and one woman.

Earlier this year, the United Church of Canada issued 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 celebrate and delight in the beauty of all creation,” Rev Michael Blair, the general secretary of the church, said. “We have wounded people instead of seeking wholeness. We apologize.”