A pastor in Denmark's state Lutheran Protestant Church who caused a stir last year by saying he did not believe in God will face an ecclesiastic court to explain himself, the Justice Ministry said.
The court, consisting of one judge and two theologists, will decide whether pastor Thorkild Grosboell's declarations were incompatible with his position as pastor.
Elsinore Bishop Lise-Lotte Rebel has accused Grosboell of sowing "deep confusion within the Church" with his comments, which were first published in a newspaper interview in May 2003 and which he has continued to express since then.
In the interview he was quoted as saying that he did not believe in God, resurrection or eternal life.
While he later said that his comments were misconstrued and oversimplified, he refused to take them back and was suspended. Several weeks later he repented and was reinstated.
He was suspended from his duties for a second time in June for reiterating the comments.
In a letter sent Monday to the ministry of religion, which was then handed over to the justice ministry, Rebel said the pastor had "helped harm the Church by being disloyal to it". She said he was a "burden to the episcopal office".
Grosboell has until September 1 to explain himself in writing.
He faces an oral reprimand, a maximum fine of two weeks' salary -- in this case 15,000 kroner (2,000 euros,2,500 dollars) -- or dismissal.
Hundreds of people from Grosboell's parish in the village of Taarbaek have come to his defence over the past year, arguing that the Church must tolerate differences of opinion.
The pastor's statements led to a heated debate over the role of the church in Denmark, where some 85 percent of Danes are members of the state church.