During a debate on same-sex marriage in November 2009, the priest Dag Sandahl began to talk about “arse fucking”. This foul language upset two woman priests, who filed a complaint to the bishop. (I wrote about it here.)

Now the church is considering a ban on such language. I’m not a member of the church, but in my opinion, it would be wrong to put a limit on free speech. If someone—a priest or otherwise—behaves badly, he or she should be asked to leave. But to make some kind of a list of prohibited words and expressions would be wrong. You cannot have an honest and open debate if people are not allowed to speak their mind freely.