There were decades of marginalization, with moments that “should never have happened”. But the request arrived “too late”.
There were many moments of “discrimination”, or “harassment”, with acts that “should never have happened”.
Therefore, the Norwegian Lutheran Church apologized to the LGBTQ+ community, especially homosexuals. This Thursday the Norwegian presiding bishop, Olav Fykse Tveit, explained: “The church in Norway caused shame, great harm and pain to LGBTQ+ people.” Therefore, it is now “fair” for him to apologize.
The bishop went to the London Pub, a bar belonging to the gay community in Oslo, one of the most prominent LGBTQ+ spaces in the capital: “This should never have happened and that’s why I apologize today”, quotes .
The bishops of the Church of Norway admitted in 2022 that they inflicted “suffering and wounds on homosexual people”. There were decades of “discrimination, unequal treatment and harassment”.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church left out LGBTQ+ people, not allowing them to become pastors (until 2017) or get married in the church (until 2017).
In fact, about 70 years ago, the Norwegian bishops said that homosexuals were “a social danger of global proportions” and your actions “wicked e despicable.”
The largest religious group in Norway is Lutheran Christianity. More than 70% of Norwegians belong to the Lutheran Church.
Stephen Adom, leader of the Association for Gender and Sexuality Diversity in Norway, heard a “strong and important” apology – but you think it was “too late for those of us who died of AIDS with hearts full of anguish because the church considered the epidemic a punishment from God.”
“We observe a right-wing conservative and populist Christian wave spreading across all countries. In the United States, in Hungary, but also in Norway, it is becoming increasingly acceptable among religious and political leaders to denigrate the human diversity of identities and bodies”, commented Stephen.
