A Lutheran minister who was suspended for claiming that neither God nor the afterlife existed was allowed to return to work as a preacher. But the local bishop vowed to keep an eye on him.
Thorkild Grosboel, pastor of Taarbaek, "has apologized for his comments that caused doubts about the church's confession of faith," said Bishop Lise-Lotte Rebel of the Helsingoer diocese, which includes the town of 51,000 just north of Copenhagen.
"Because he has expressed his understanding about his obligations, the bishop has decided to remove the suspension," she said in a statement co-signed by Grosboel.
However, Rebel said she would monitor Grosboel.
In a May 23 newspaper interview, Grosboel said: "There is no heavenly God, there is no eternal life, there is no resurrection."
Rebel suspended Grosboel on June 3 because his comments had "caused confusion" within Denmark's state Evangelical Lutheran Church.
In this Scandinavian country of 5.3 million, about 85 percent of the population belongs to the Lutheran Church, though only 5 percent attend church services regularly.
Rebel met several times with Grosboel to discuss his claims and asked him to retract his comments and apologize. It was not clear when Grosboel would be preaching again.