Church of Norway Apologizes to LGBTQ+ — Now Performs Gay Marriages
Oslo, Norway - The Church of Norway formally apologized to the country's LGBTQ+ community on Thursday, October 16, 2025, for decades of discrimination and harassment. Presiding Bishop Olav Fykse Tveit delivered the apology at the London Pub in Oslo, a gay bar that was the site of a shooting in June 2022 in which two people were killed during the city's Pride celebrations.
"The Church of Norway has caused LGBTQ+ people shame, great harm and pain. This should not have happened, and that is why I apologize today," Tveit said, speaking on behalf of Norway's Bishops' Conference.
The apology follows a 2022 acknowledgment by the church's bishops that the institution had inflicted pain on LGBTQ+ people. In the 1950s, the Norwegian Bishops' Conference described gay people as a
"social danger of global dimensions" and qualified their acts as "perverse and despicable."
Tveit stated that
"discrimination, unequal treatment and harassment have led to queers feeling shame, as a result of a prevailing narrative of what love is right or wrong, and pressure from the church to hide or deny who they were."
He acknowledged that this treatment caused some to renounce church membership and lose their faith.
The bishop emphasized that the Church's renewed approach is rooted in the belief that "God creates us all in his image, with the value and worth that entails. The Bible tells of people who met Jesus. He raised them up and showed us all what community is."
According to a survey conducted by the Opinion Institute for the Church of Norway, 65 percent of respondents said it was "high time" for the institution to apologize to gay people.
The Church of Norway, an Evangelical Lutheran church with 3.4 million members representing over 60 percent of the Norwegian population, has allowed gay pastors since 2007 and same-sex couples to marry in its churches since 2017.
A church service was scheduled to follow the apology at Oslo Cathedral on Thursday evening.
The apology follows similar actions by other Protestant churches. The Church of England apologized in January 2023 for "shameful" treatment of the LGBTQ+ community, though it maintained its refusal to allow same-sex marriages in churches.
THE CRUSADERS OPINION
The Church of Norway apologized for holding biblical teaching on sexuality. They called Scripture's position on homosexuality "discrimination." They repented of maintaining Christian orthodoxy for centuries. Now they perform same-sex marriages.
This isn't progress. It's apostasy.
God's Word is clear. Marriage is between one man and one woman. Sexual intimacy belongs exclusively within that covenant. Homosexual practice violates God's design. This isn't cultural prejudice. It's biblical truth revealed consistently from Genesis through Revelation.
Romans 1 describes homosexual behavior as exchanging natural relations for unnatural ones. First Corinthians 6 lists it among sins that exclude from God's kingdom. Leviticus condemns it. Jesus affirmed marriage as male-female union from creation. Scripture speaks with one voice across both Testaments.
The Church of Norway once preached this truth. Now they apologize for it. They stood at a gay bar declaring their past faithfulness to Scripture was causing "harm and pain." They repented of obedience to God's Word.
Bishop Tveit claimed "God creates us all in his image" justifies affirming homosexuality. But bearing God's image doesn't sanctify sinful desires. All humanity bears God's image, yet all fall short of His glory. Image-bearing calls us to holiness, not affirmation of sin.
Genuine Christian love speaks truth. Calling homosexual practice sin isn't discrimination—it's faithfulness. Warning people away from behavior that separates them from God isn't harassment—it's mercy. The most hateful thing churches can do is affirm people toward judgment.
The Church of Norway chose cultural approval over biblical fidelity. They ordained gay pastors in 2007. They performed same-sex marriages since 2017. Now they apologize for ever holding Christian teaching. Each compromise led to the next. This is where theological liberalism always ends.
TAKE ACTION: STAND FOR BIBLICAL TRUTH
Affirm Scripture: Marriage is between one man and one woman; sexual intimacy belongs exclusively within that covenant
PROTEST: at Oslo Cathedral on Thursday evening.
Speak truth in love: Calling sin "sin" isn't hatred—it's faithfulness to God's Word and genuine care for souls
Support orthodox churches: Find and support denominations and congregations that hold biblical sexual ethics
Pray for Norway: That faithful Christians would stand firm and that the Church of Norway would return to Scripture
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