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Amid crimson theater drapes at one of Oslo’s most prominent LGBTQ+ spaces, Norway's national church issued a formal apology for harm and unequal treatment perpetrated over the years.

“The church in Norway has brought LGBTQ+ people harm, suffering and humiliation,” the presiding bishop, Olav Fykse Tveit, stated on Thursday. “It was wrong for this to take place and that is why I apologise today.”

“Unequal treatment, harassment and discrimination” resulted in some to lose their faith, the bishop admitted. A religious service at Oslo Cathedral was arranged to take place after his statement.

This formal apology occurred at a venue called London Pub, one of two bars attacked during the 2022 attack that resulted in two deaths 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 in incarceration for carrying out the attacks.

Like many religions around the world, Norway's church – an evangelical Lutheran church that is the biggest religious group in Norway – had long marginalised LGBTQ+ people, preventing them from serving as pastors or to marry in church. During the 1950s, the church’s bishops referred to homosexual individuals as “a global-scale societal hazard”.

But as Norwegian society became increasingly liberal, becoming the second in the world to allow same-sex registered partnerships in 1993 and by 2009 the first Scandinavian country to allow same-sex marriage, the church slowly followed.

In 2007, the Norwegian Lutheran Church started appointing LGBTQ+ clergy, and LGBTQ+ partners could marry in church from 2017 onward. Last year, Tveit joined in Oslo’s Pride parade in what was called a first for the church.

The apology on Thursday received varied responses. The head of a network of Christian lesbians in Norway, Pedersen-Eriksen, who is also a gay pastor, referred to it as “a crucial act of amends” and a moment that “finally marked the end of a painful era in the history of the church”.

For Stephen Adom, the director of Norway’s Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity, the statement was “strong and important” but was delivered “not in time for those who passed away from AIDS … carrying heavy hearts because the church considered the crisis to be God’s punishment”.

Internationally, a handful of religious institutions have sought to make amends for their past behavior regarding LGBTQ+ individuals. Last year, the Church of England said sorry for what it described as its “shameful” treatment, even as it still declines to authorize same-sex weddings in church.

Similarly, Ireland's Methodist Church the previous year apologised for “inadequate pastoral assistance and care” regarding the LGBTQ+ community and family members, but remained staunch in its conviction that marriage could only be a union between a man and a woman.

In the early part of this year, Canada's United Church delivered a statement of regret to two spirit and LGBTQIA+ communities, 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 celebrate and delight in the beauty of all creation,” Michael Blair, the top administrative leader of the church, said. “We caused pain to people instead of seeking wholeness. We are sorry.”