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Amid red stage curtains at one of Oslo’s most prominent LGBTQ+ spaces, the Norwegian Lutheran Church issued a formal apology for harm and unequal treatment it had inflicted.

“The national church has caused LGBTQ+ individuals harm, suffering and humiliation,” the lead bishop, the church leader, announced on Thursday. “It was wrong for this to take place and this is why I apologise today.”

The “discrimination, unequal treatment and harassment” resulted in a loss of faith for some, the bishop admitted. A worship service at Oslo Cathedral was arranged to follow his apology.

The apology occurred at the London Pub establishment, one of two bars targeted in the 2022 shooting that killed two people and left nine seriously injured during Oslo’s Pride celebrations. An individual of Iranian descent living in Norway, who had pledged allegiance to Islamic State, 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 – had long marginalised the LGBTQ+ community, denying them the opportunity from joining the clergy or from marrying in religious ceremonies. Back in the 1950s, bishops of the church described gay people as “a worldwide social threat”.

But as Norwegian society became increasingly liberal, emerging as the world's second to legalize same-sex partnerships back in 1993 and by 2009 the initial Nordic nation to approve gay marriage, the religious institution eventually adapted.

In 2007, Norway's church commenced the ordination of homosexual ministers, and gay and lesbian couples have been able to marry in church from 2017 onward. Last year, Tveit participated in the Pride march in Oslo in what was called an unprecedented step for the church.

The Thursday statement of regret received a mixed reaction. The director of a group of Christian lesbians in Norway, Hanne Marie, a lesbian minister herself, called it “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 director of the Norwegian Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity, the apology was “powerful and significant” but had come “overdue for individuals who passed away from AIDS … with hearts filled with anguish since the church viewed the disease as punishment from God”.

Globally, a few churches have attempted to offer apologies for historical treatment concerning the LGBTQ+ community. Last year, the Church of England expressed regret for what it characterized as its “shameful” treatment, though it continues to refuse to authorize same-sex weddings within the church.

Likewise, Ireland's Methodist Church last year issued an apology for “shortcomings in pastoral care and support” to LGBTQ+ people and their families, but remained staunch in its conviction that marriage should only represent a union between a man and a woman.

In the early part of this year, the United Church based in Canada issued an apology toward Two-Spirit and LGBTQIA+ individuals, labeling it a confirmation of the church's “dedication to welcoming all and full inclusion” throughout every area of church life.

“We have failed to honor and appreciate the beauty of all creation,” Michael Blair, the church's general secretary, said. “We have wounded people rather than pursuing healing. We express our regret.”