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Set against deep red curtains at one of Oslo’s most prominent LGBTQ+ spaces, the Church of Norway offered an apology for harm and unequal treatment caused by the church.

“The church in Norway has inflicted the LGBTQ+ community pain, shame and significant harm,” the presiding bishop, the church leader, announced on Thursday. “It was wrong for this to take place and that is why today I say sorry.”

“Harassment, discrimination and unfair treatment” had caused a loss of faith for some, the bishop admitted. A worship service at the cathedral in Oslo was scheduled to follow his apology.

This formal apology took place at the London Pub, a bar that was one of two targeted in the 2022 shooting that took two lives and caused serious injuries to nine at Oslo's Pride event. A Norwegian citizen originally from Iran, who expressed support for ISIS, was sentenced to a minimum of three decades in incarceration for the killings.

In common with various worldwide religions, the Church of Norway – an evangelical Lutheran church that is the most extensive faith community in the country – for years sidelined LGBTQ+ people, preventing them from joining the clergy or from marrying in religious ceremonies. 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 initial Nordic nation to approve gay marriage, the religious institution eventually adapted.

During 2007, Norway's church commenced the ordination of LGBTQ+ clergy, and same-sex couples have been able to get married in religious ceremonies starting in 2017. Last year, Tveit participated in Oslo’s Pride parade in what was called an unprecedented step for the church.

The Thursday statement of regret received a mixed reaction. The leader of an organization representing Norwegian Christian lesbians, Hanne Marie, who is also a gay pastor, called it “a crucial act of amends” and a moment that “finally marked the end of a painful era within the church's past”.

For Stephen Adom, the director of Norway’s Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity, the statement was “meaningful and vital” but had come “overdue for individuals among us who died of Aids … with deep sorrow in their hearts as the church regarded the crisis as divine punishment”.

Internationally, several faith-based organizations have attempted to offer apologies for their actions towards LGBTQ+ people. Last year, the Anglican Church apologised for what it described as its “shameful” treatment, though it continues to refuse to authorize same-sex weddings in religious settings.

In a similar vein, the Methodist Church located in Ireland the previous year apologised for its “failures in pastoral support and care” to LGBTQ+ people and their families, but stayed firm in the view that marriage could only be a partnership of one man and one woman.

In the early part of this year, the United Church based in Canada offered an apology to two spirit and LGBTQIA+ communities, characterizing it as a confirmation of the church's “dedication to welcoming all and full inclusion” in every part of the church's activities.

“We did not manage to honor and appreciate the wonderful diversity of creation,” Michael Blair, the church's general secretary, stated. “We caused pain to people in place of fostering completeness. We are sorry.”