The Norwegian Church Issues Apology to LGBTQ+ People for ‘Shame, Great Harm and Pain’
Amid deep red curtains at a leading Oslo LGBTQ+ venue, Norway's national church issued a formal apology for hurtful actions and exclusion it had inflicted.
“Norway's church has brought LGBTQ+ people shame, great harm and pain,” bishop Olav Fykse Tveit, Bishop Tveit, stated during a Thursday event. “It was wrong for this to take place and this is why today I say sorry.”
The “discrimination, unequal treatment and harassment” led to a loss of faith for some, Tveit acknowledged. A worship service at Oslo's main cathedral was scheduled to come after the apology.
This formal apology was delivered at a venue called London Pub, one among two bars attacked during the 2022 shooting that resulted in two deaths and caused serious injuries to nine during Oslo’s Pride celebrations. An individual of Iranian descent living in Norway, who expressed support for ISIS, received a sentence to no less than 30 years in prison for carrying out the attacks.
Like many religions around the world, Norway's church – a Lutheran evangelical community that is the most extensive faith community in the country – historically excluded LGBTQ+ people, preventing them to become pastors or from marrying in religious ceremonies. In the 1950s, bishops of the church referred to homosexual individuals as “a global-scale societal hazard”.
Yet, with Norwegian society turning more progressive, emerging as the world's second to allow same-sex registered partnerships during 1993 and by 2009 the initial Nordic nation to allow same-sex marriage, the religious institution eventually adapted.
During 2007, Norway's church commenced the ordination of LGBTQ+ clergy, and same-sex couples could marry in church starting in 2017. During 2023, the bishop took part in Oslo’s Pride parade in what was described as a first for the church.
The apology on Thursday was met with a mixed reaction. The head of a network representing Norwegian Christian lesbians, Hanne Marie Pedersen-Eriksen, a lesbian minister herself, called it “a significant step toward healing” and an occasion that “finally marked the end of a difficult period within the church's past”.
According to Stephen Adom, the director of the Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity in Norway, the statement was “powerful and significant” but was delivered “overdue for individuals who passed away from AIDS … with deep sorrow in their hearts because the church considered the crisis as divine punishment”.
Globally, a handful of religious institutions have tried to make amends for their past behavior concerning the LGBTQ+ community. During 2023, England's church said sorry for what it referred to as “disgraceful” conduct, even as it still declines to allow same-sex marriages in church.
Similarly, the Methodist Church located in Ireland in the past year apologised for “inadequate pastoral assistance and care” toward LGBTQ+ individuals and family members, but held fast in its conviction that marriage should only represent a union between a man and a woman.
Earlier this year, Canada's United Church delivered a statement of regret toward Two-Spirit and LGBTQIA+ individuals, describing it as a confirmation of the church's “dedication to welcoming all and full inclusion” in all aspects of church life.
“We have not succeeded to honor and appreciate all of your beautiful creation,” Michael Blair, the church's general secretary, remarked. “We caused pain to people instead of seeking wholeness. We are sorry.”