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Amid red stage curtains at a leading Oslo LGBTQ+ venue, Norway's national church issued a formal apology for hurtful actions and exclusion caused by the church.

“Norway's church has caused LGBTQ+ people pain, shame and significant harm,” bishop Olav Fykse Tveit, the church leader, stated on Thursday. “It was wrong for this to take place and that is why I apologise today.”

“Harassment, discrimination and unfair treatment” resulted in some to lose their faith, the bishop admitted. A religious service at Oslo's main cathedral was scheduled to take place after his statement.

The statement of regret was delivered at the London Pub, one among two bars targeted in the 2022 shooting that resulted in two deaths and caused serious injuries to nine during Oslo’s Pride celebrations. A Norwegian citizen originally from Iran, who had pledged allegiance to Islamic State, was given a prison term to at least 30 years behind bars for the killings.

Like many religions around the world, the Church of Norway – a Lutheran evangelical community that is the most extensive faith community in the country – for years sidelined the LGBTQ+ community, refusing to allow them from serving as pastors or to marry in church. During the 1950s, church leaders referred to homosexual individuals as “a worldwide social threat”.

Yet, with Norwegian society turning more progressive, ranking as the second globally to legalize same-sex partnerships back in 1993 and in 2009 the first in Scandinavia to allow same-sex marriage, the church slowly followed.

Back in 2007, Norway's church commenced the ordination of gay pastors, and LGBTQ+ partners have been able to marry in church since 2017. Last year, the bishop took part in the Oslo Pride event in what was called an unprecedented step for the church.

The apology on Thursday received differing opinions. The leader of an organization for Christian lesbians in Norway, Pedersen-Eriksen, herself a gay pastor, referred to it as “a crucial act of amends” and an occasion that “signaled the conclusion of a dark chapter within the church's past”.

For Stephen Adom, the leader of the Norwegian Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity, the statement was “meaningful and vital” but was delivered “overdue for individuals among us who died of Aids … carrying heavy hearts because the church considered the disease as divine punishment”.

Worldwide, several faith-based organizations have sought to reconcile for historical treatment concerning the LGBTQ+ community. Last year, the Church of England expressed regret for what it referred to as “shameful” actions, even as it continues to refuse to allow same-sex marriages in religious settings.

Likewise, the Methodist Church located in Ireland in the past year expressed regret for its “failures in pastoral support and care” regarding the LGBTQ+ community and their relatives, but stayed firm in its belief that marriage could only be a partnership of one man and one woman.

In the early part of this year, Canada's United Church issued an apology to two spirit and LGBTQIA+ communities, labeling it a confirmation of the church's “dedication to welcoming all and full inclusion” in every part of the church's activities.

“We have not succeeded to honor and appreciate the wonderful diversity of creation,” Michael Blair, the general secretary of the church, said. “We caused pain to people in place of fostering completeness. We are sorry.”