Norway’s Bishops Join Ecumenical Anti-LGBTQ+ Statement

Norway’s Bishop Erik Varden, left, with Bishop Bernt Eidsvig, center

The Norwegian Catholic Bishops’ Council has signed onto an ecumenical statement denouncing diverse categories of gender and sexuality. Signed by 14 denominations and over 40 Christian organizations, the statement asserts that “the very concept of ‘gender and sexual diversity’ is not based on medical and natural science.”

The statement, entitled “A Joint Christian Declaration on ‘Diversity of Gender and Sexuality’,” claims that, “The notion that gender is a subjective category and that sexual and gender identity can be freely chosen on the basis of feelings or preference, irrespective of biological sex, is based on ideology.”

The document also argues that “Marriage between one man and one woman constitutes the Biblical framework for sexual relationships” and denounces “Other forms of sexual relationships [as] ‘diversity’ at odds with the Bible’s theology of creation and with Jesus’s ethical teaching.” This idea echoes a 2016 “Declaration on Marriage,” released the same year that the Church of Norway, the nation’s state church, ratified a gender-inclusive form of its marriage liturgy.

The 2024 ecumenical statement responds to another watershed moment for LGBTQ+ equality in Norway which took effect this year: a ban on all forms of conversion therapy. The ban criminalizes attempts to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity. The statement repudiates this policy:

“We hold that public authorities and governmental bodies exceed their mandate and power by attempting to pressure citizens and organisations to adapt to ‘queer theory’ on gender, sexuality, and marriage. Such activism on the part of government violates religious freedom and freedom of conscience, as well as the rights of parents.”

The document’s rigid approach to gender and sexuality has strong echoes of the Vatican’s declaration Dignitas Infinitas, released earlier this year. Like Dignitas Infinitas, the ecumenical statement uses language of “gender ideology;” asserts that heteronormative families are “divinely ordained;” and denounces reproductive technologies such as assisted fertilization and surrogacy.

By endorsing this statement, the Catholic bishops have chosen to ally themselves with the conservative evangelical minority against the more progressive Church of Norway. Well over half of Norwegians belong to the Church of Norway, which has allowed queer marriages since 2017. Olav Fykse Tveit, its presiding bishop, called the ecumenical statement “disappointing,” “not a good contribution to Christian unity,” and “a poor use of Scripture.”

While collaboration with other Christian groups is laudable, rallying against a common enemy is not the way toward ecumenism—especially if the common enemy is LGBTQ+ people and their allies.

The statement says at one point, “The doctrine and example of Jesus teach us that every human being is our neighbour.” Norway’s Catholic bishops would do well to heed the voices of their LGBTQ+ neighbors who are asking for full respect and inclusion in their church and society.

—Ariell Watson Simon (she/her), New Ways Ministry, December 28, 2024

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I want to inform Bondings 2.0’s readers that at the end of December, New Ways Ministry will be saying goodbye to our dear friend and colleague, Robert Shine. Bob, as he is known,has been on New Ways Ministry’s staff in various capacities since August 2012. He has been a dedicated Associate Director of New Ways and a sharp, insightful Managing Editor of Bondings 2.0.  We have been blessed by his many talents and by his intelligence, wisdom, passion, creativity, and faith.

Our sadness at his departure is tempered by our very best wishes for him in his future endeavors, as he continues to make our church and our world more just and loving. We are deeply grateful for all that he has contributed to New Ways Ministry and Bondings 2.0, and we look forward to maintaining our personal, professional, and ministerial connections with him.

If you would like to contact Bob, he can be reached at [email protected].

—Francis DeBernardo, New Ways Ministry, December 28, 2024