The Lutheran Church of Norway has formally apologised to the country’s LGBTQ community for the discrimination and harassment it subjected them to in the past.
“In 2022, the bishops of the Church of Norway acknowledged that the institution we lead has caused suffering and pain to gay people,” said Olav Fykse Tveit, presiding bishop of the Church of Norway, in a speech at the London Pub in the capital Oslo, a prominent venue for the gay community.
The London Pub was one of two bars targeted in a shooting that left two dead and nine injured during Oslo’s Pride parade on June 25, 2022.
“Some may think it’s too late, some may think it’s too early. We believe it’s right not to wait any longer,” he added.
“In recent years, we have had a number of meetings and conversations with queer people and their various interest organisations. It is heartening when those who previously felt condemned by the church have welcomed us with open arms. It is a grace.
“It is therefore right that we take responsibility as a church and offer our apologies,” he said, referring to the “discrimination, unequal treatment and harassment” that caused “shame” and led some to lose their faith.
In the 1950s, the Church of Norway said gay people were a “global social danger” and qualified their acts as “perverse and despicable”.
Over time, it has adopted a more Liberal approach, although many have said that came too late.
It has allowed gay pastors since 2007 and same-sex couples to marry in its churches since 2017.
Stephen Adom, head of Norway’s Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity, called the apology “strong and important” but noted that it “comes too late for those of us who died of AIDS, with hearts filled with anguish because the church considered the epidemic to be God’s punishment”.
In in speech, Fykse Tveit recognised that Church policies and statements regarding LGBT people, especially gays and lesbians, have led “to queers feeling shame”.
He acknowledged that the Church’s past teachings on sexuality had caused deep emotional and spiritual harm.
Many have felt that “there is no place for them. Some have renounced their church membership, and some say they have lost their faith. It has been a great strain for those affected and their family and friends”, Fykse Tveit said.
“Discrimination, unequal treatment and harassment have led to queers feeling shame, as a result of a prevailing narrative of what love is right or wrong, and pressure from the church to hide or deny who they were,” he added.
The bishop emphasised that the Church’s renewed approach is rooted in the belief that every person is created in God’s image.
“God creates us all in his image, with the value and worth that entails. The Bible tells of people who met Jesus. He raised them up and showed us all what community is,” he said.
The Church of Norway’s statement follows similar apologies from Protestant churches in England and Canada.
Under Pope Francis, the Roman Catholic Church began showing greater openness toward the LGBTQ community.
This has continued under Pope Leo XIV, who reaffirmed that members of the group are welcome within the Church.
He has, though, maintained traditional Catholic doctrine, which defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman.
“The family is father and mother and children. I think that the role of the family in society has at times suffered in recent decades,” he stated.
