Church of Norway Apologized To LGBTQ+ Community

[RAMROD 117,252]

Against a backdrop of red stage curtains at one of Oslo’s most prominent LGBTQ+ spaces, the Church of Norway apologised for the discrimination and harm it had inflicted.

“The church in Norway has caused LGBTQ+ people shame, great harm and pain,” the presiding bishop, Olav Fykse Tveit, said on Thursday. “This should never have happened and that is why I apologise today.”

The “discrimination, unequal treatment and harassment” had caused some to lose their faith, Tveit acknowledged. A church service at Oslo Cathedral was scheduled to follow his apology.

The apology took place at the London Pub, one of two bars targeted in the 2022 shooting that killed two people and left nine seriously injured during Oslo’s Pride celebrations. A Norwegian of Iranian origin, who had pledged allegiance to Islamic State, was sentenced to at least 30 years in prison for the killings.

Like many religions around the world, the Church of Norway – an evangelical Lutheran church that is Norway’s largest faith community – had long marginalised LGBTQ+ people, refusing to allow them to become pastors or to marry in church. In the 1950s, the church’s bishops described gay people as a “social danger of global proportions”.

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

In 2007, the Church of Norway began ordaining gay pastors, and same-sex couples have been able to marry in churchsince 2017. In 2023, Tveit participated in Oslo’s Pride parade in what was described as a first for the church.

Thursday’s apology was met with a mixed reaction. The head of a network of Christian lesbians in Norway, Hanne Marie Pedersen-Eriksen, herself a gay pastor, described it as “an important reparation” and a moment that “finally marked the end of a dark chapter in the church’s history”.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/oct/16/church-of-norway-says-sorry-to-lgbtq-people-for-shame-great-harm-and-pain

[nATAH 57,273]

i only accept apologies in the form of money

[Taumaturg0 1,364]

54 minutes ago, RAMROD said:

 

In 2007, the Church of Norway began ordaining gay pastors, and same-sex couples have been able to marry in church since 2017. In 2023, Tveit participated in Oslo’s Pride parade in what was described as a first for the church.

 

I know a lot of Christians would fume if they read that paragraph. 

While I'm not religious, this something I can appreciate, it seems that they actually took steps to make LGBTQ+ people a significant part of their community

Edited October 19, 2025 by Taumaturg0

[PartySick 172,972]

Always here for the people of faith realizing that their beliefs don't give them the right to hurt others though I remain ecstatic that religion, especially organized religion, is dying an exponentially rapid death with each passing generation all around the globe.

[Horny Chicken 10,944]

Norway is the only country I’ve been to where the majority of people are blonde. It’s very interesting.