Amid crimson theater drapes at one of Oslo’s most prominent LGBTQ+ spaces, the Church of Norway issued a formal apology for discrimination and harm perpetrated over the years.
“The church in Norway has caused LGBTQ+ individuals shame, great harm and pain,” bishop Olav Fykse Tveit, Bishop Tveit, declared 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, the bishop admitted. A worship service at Oslo Cathedral was scheduled to follow his apology.
The apology took place at a venue called London Pub, one of two bars attacked during the 2022 attack that killed two people and injured nine people severely at Oslo's Pride event. A Norwegian of Iranian origin, who had pledged allegiance to Islamic State, was given a prison term to no less than 30 years behind bars for carrying out the attacks.
Similar to numerous global faiths, the Norwegian Lutheran Church – an evangelical Lutheran church that is Norway’s largest faith community – for years sidelined the LGBTQ+ community, denying them the opportunity from joining the clergy 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, emerging as the world's second to permit registered partnerships for same-sex couples during 1993 and by 2009 the first in Scandinavia to allow same-sex marriage, the church gradually changed.
Back in 2007, Norway's church began ordaining homosexual ministers, and same-sex couples could have church weddings starting in 2017. Last year, Tveit participated in Oslo’s Pride parade in what was called a historic moment for the religious institution.
The apology on Thursday elicited differing opinions. The leader of an organization for Christian lesbians in Norway, Pedersen-Eriksen, a lesbian minister herself, called it “a significant step toward healing” and a point in time that “signaled the conclusion of a difficult period in the church’s history”.
As stated by Stephen Adom, the head of the Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity in Norway, the apology was “meaningful and vital” but arrived “overdue for individuals among us who died of Aids … carrying heavy hearts because the church considered the disease to be God’s punishment”.
Internationally, a handful of religious institutions have attempted to offer apologies for historical treatment concerning the LGBTQ+ community. Last year, England's church expressed regret for what it described as “shameful” actions, even as it still declines to permit gay marriages in church.
Likewise, Ireland's Methodist Church in the past year apologised for “inadequate pastoral assistance and care” to LGBTQ+ people and their relatives, but held fast in its belief that marriage could only be a partnership of one man and one woman.
Several months ago, the United Church based in Canada delivered a statement of regret toward Two-Spirit and LGBTQIA+ individuals, describing it as a reaffirmation of the church's “dedication to welcoming all and full inclusion” in every part of the church's activities.
“We did not manage to celebrate and delight in all of your beautiful creation,” Rev Michael Blair, the church's general secretary, remarked. “We caused pain to people in place of fostering completeness. We are sorry.”
Elara is a passionate writer and photographer who shares insights on creativity and mindful living through engaging storytelling.
