Particle.news
Download on the App Store
3 ARTICLES
·
4h ago

Church of Norway Issues Public Apology to LGBTQ+ Community at Oslo’s London Pub

The gesture caps years of internal liberalization after bishops first conceded in 2022 that the church had caused harm.

Olav Fykse Tveit, the leading bishop of the Church of Norway, stands in Rainbow Street outside the London pub, before giving a speech in which he expresses an apology to queers on behalf of the church, in Oslo, Norway, October 16, 2025. NTB/Javad Parsa/via REUTERS

Overview

  • Presiding Bishop Olav Fykse Tveit said the church had caused LGBTQ+ people “shame, great harm and pain” and issued the apology on behalf of Norway’s bishops.
  • He delivered the statement at the London Pub, one of two venues attacked during Oslo’s 2022 Pride celebrations, where two people were killed and nine injured.
  • A church service at Oslo Cathedral was scheduled for Thursday evening following the apology.
  • The Church of Norway has shifted its stance in recent years, ordaining gay pastors since 2007 and permitting same‑sex church weddings since 2017, with Tveit joining Oslo’s Pride parade in 2023.
  • Reactions were mixed as LGBTQ+ leaders welcomed the apology yet called it overdue, citing past stigmatizing rhetoric from the 1950s and the church’s posture during the AIDS crisis; a church-commissioned poll found 65% supported an apology.