Church of Norway Issues Apology to LGBTQ+ Community for ‘Harm, Shame and Suffering’
Set against red stage curtains at one of Oslo’s most prominent LGBTQ+ spaces, the Norwegian Lutheran Church offered an apology for harm and unequal treatment perpetrated over the years.
“The church in Norway has caused LGBTQ+ individuals pain, shame and significant harm,” the presiding bishop, Bishop Tveit, stated on Thursday. “This should never have happened and which is the reason today I say sorry.”
“Harassment, discrimination and unfair treatment” led to some to lose their faith, Tveit recognized. A church service at Oslo Cathedral was scheduled to follow his apology.
The apology was delivered at the London Pub establishment, one of two bars involved in the 2022 shooting that killed two people and caused serious injuries to nine at Oslo's Pride event. A Norwegian of Iranian origin, who expressed support for ISIS, was given a prison term to at least 30 years behind bars for the killings.
Similar to numerous global faiths, the Norwegian Lutheran Church – a Protestant Lutheran denomination that is Norway’s largest faith community – for years sidelined the LGBTQ+ community, denying them the opportunity from joining the clergy or from marrying in religious ceremonies. During the 1950s, bishops of the church referred to homosexual individuals as a “social danger of global proportions”.
Yet, with Norwegian society turning more progressive, ranking as the second globally to permit registered partnerships for same-sex couples in 1993 and during 2009 the first Scandinavian country to legalize same-sex marriage, the church gradually changed.
During 2007, Norway's church started appointing LGBTQ+ clergy, and gay and lesbian couples have been able to have church weddings starting in 2017. In 2023, Tveit participated in the Pride march in Oslo in what was noted as a historic moment for the religious institution.
The apology on Thursday was met with varied responses. The leader of an organization representing Norwegian Christian lesbians, Hanne Marie, a lesbian minister herself, described it as “a crucial act of amends” and an occasion that “signaled the conclusion of a difficult period in the history of the church”.
As stated by Stephen Adom, the head of the Norwegian Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity, the statement was “powerful and significant” but was delivered “overdue for individuals who passed away from AIDS … carrying heavy hearts as the church regarded the crisis as punishment from God”.
Internationally, several faith-based organizations have tried to reconcile for historical treatment regarding LGBTQ+ individuals. In 2023, England's church expressed regret for what it referred to as “shameful” actions, although it continues to refuse to authorize same-sex weddings within the church.
In a similar vein, the Methodist Church located in Ireland last year apologised for “inadequate pastoral assistance and care” toward LGBTQ+ individuals and family members, but remained staunch in the view that marriage could only be a partnership of one man and one woman.
Several months ago, Canada's United Church offered an apology to two spirit and LGBTQIA+ communities, labeling it a renewed commitment of its “pledge to complete acceptance and open hospitality” in all aspects of church life.
“We have failed to rejoice and take pleasure in all of your beautiful creation,” Rev Michael Blair, the general secretary of the church, stated. “We have wounded people rather than pursuing healing. We apologize.”
