The Norwegian Church Makes Apology to LGBTQ+ People for ‘Harm, Shame and Suffering’
Set against deep red curtains at a leading Oslo LGBTQ+ venue, the Church of Norway offered an apology for harm and unequal treatment perpetrated over the years.
“The church in Norway has brought LGBTQ+ individuals pain, shame and significant harm,” the lead bishop, the church leader, stated on Thursday. “This should never have happened and this is why I offer my apology now.”
“Unequal treatment, harassment and discrimination” led to a loss of faith for some, Tveit recognized. A worship service at Oslo's main cathedral was arranged to take place after his statement.
This formal apology was delivered at the London Pub, one of two bars involved in the 2022 violent incident that resulted in two deaths and injured nine people severely during Oslo’s Pride celebrations. An individual of Iranian descent living in Norway, who swore loyalty to Islamic State, received a sentence to at least 30 years in incarceration for the murders.
Like many religions around the world, the Norwegian Lutheran Church – an evangelical Lutheran church that is the most extensive faith community in the country – historically excluded LGBTQ+ individuals, refusing to allow them from serving as pastors or to marry in church. Back in the 1950s, church leaders referred to homosexual individuals as “a global-scale societal hazard”.
Yet, with Norwegian society turning more progressive, becoming the second in the world to legalize same-sex partnerships back in 1993 and in 2009 the first Scandinavian country to approve gay marriage, the religious institution eventually adapted.
Back in 2007, the Norwegian Lutheran Church began ordaining gay pastors, and gay and lesbian couples have been able to have church weddings from 2017 onward. In 2023, the bishop took part in the Oslo Pride event in what was described as a first for the church.
The Thursday statement of regret received differing opinions. The leader of an organization representing Norwegian Christian lesbians, Hanne Marie, who is also a gay pastor, referred to it as “a crucial act of amends” and an occasion that “represented the closure of a dark chapter in the church’s history”.
According to Stephen Adom, the director of Norway’s Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity, the apology was “meaningful and vital” but had come “overdue for individuals who lost their lives to AIDS … with hearts filled with anguish since the church viewed the epidemic to be God’s punishment”.
Internationally, several faith-based organizations have attempted to reconcile for historical treatment towards LGBTQ+ people. During 2023, England's church apologised for what it characterized as “disgraceful” conduct, although it persists in refusing to allow same-sex marriages within the church.
In a similar vein, the Methodist Church located in Ireland in the past year expressed regret for “inadequate pastoral assistance and care” toward LGBTQ+ individuals and family members, but remained staunch in its conviction that matrimony must only constitute a partnership of one man and one woman.
Several months ago, Canada's United Church issued an apology to two spirit and LGBTQIA+ communities, labeling it a confirmation of the church’s “commitment to radical hospitality and full inclusion” throughout every area of church life.
“We have not succeeded to rejoice and take pleasure in the wonderful diversity of creation,” Reverend Blair, the top administrative leader of the church, stated. “We caused pain to people in place of fostering completeness. We express our regret.”
