Church of Norway Makes Formal Apology to LGBTQ+ Community for ‘Harm, Shame and Suffering’
Amid red stage curtains at a leading Oslo LGBTQ+ venue, the Church of Norway expressed regret for discrimination and harm perpetrated over the years.
“Norway's church has brought LGBTQ+ people shame, great harm and pain,” the presiding bishop, the church leader, stated on Thursday. “This ought not to have occurred and this is why I offer my apology now.”
“Harassment, discrimination and unfair treatment” resulted in certain individuals abandoning their faith, Tveit recognized. A church service at Oslo's main cathedral was planned to take place after his statement.
The apology occurred at the London Pub establishment, one of two bars attacked during the 2022 shooting that resulted in two deaths and caused serious injuries to nine at Oslo's Pride event. A Norwegian citizen originally from Iran, who swore loyalty to Islamic State, received a sentence to no less than 30 years in incarceration for the killings.
In common with various worldwide religions, the Norwegian Lutheran Church – an evangelical Lutheran church that is the biggest religious group in Norway – had long marginalised the LGBTQ+ community, denying them the opportunity to become pastors or to marry in church. Back in the 1950s, the church’s bishops characterized LGBTQ+ persons as “a worldwide social threat”.
However, as Norway's society grew more liberal, emerging as the world's second to permit registered partnerships for same-sex couples back in 1993 and by 2009 the initial Nordic nation to approve gay marriage, the church slowly followed.
During 2007, the Church of Norway commenced the ordination of LGBTQ+ clergy, and LGBTQ+ partners have been able to have church weddings starting in 2017. In 2023, the bishop took part in Oslo’s Pride parade in what was noted as a first for the church.
The apology on Thursday received varied responses. The director of a group of Christian lesbians in Norway, Hanne Marie, herself a gay pastor, described it as “an important reparation” and a point in time that “finally marked the end of a dark chapter in the church’s history”.
As stated by Stephen Adom, the director of the Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity in Norway, the statement was “meaningful and vital” but was delivered “too late for those among us who died of Aids … with hearts filled with anguish because the church considered the crisis as punishment from God”.
Globally, a handful of religious institutions have tried to reconcile for their actions towards LGBTQ+ people. In 2023, England's church said sorry for what it characterized as its “shameful” treatment, though it still declines to allow same-sex marriages in religious settings.
Likewise, the Methodist Church in Ireland in the past year apologised for “shortcomings in pastoral care and support” regarding the LGBTQ+ community and their families, but remained staunch in its conviction that marriage should only represent a bond between male and female.
Earlier this year, Canada's United Church delivered a statement of regret to Two-Spirit and LGBTQIA+ groups, labeling it a reaffirmation of its “pledge to complete acceptance and open hospitality” in every part of the church's activities.
“We have failed to rejoice and take pleasure in all of your beautiful creation,” Michael Blair, the general secretary of the church, remarked. “We have hurt individuals in place of fostering completeness. We apologize.”
