Innes told the Guardian he feared the law, if backed in the Danish parliament, the Folketing, would be replicated elsewhere in Europe at a time when religious minorities were generally finding their freedoms being encroached upon…There is a growing level of concern at a perceived rise of Islamist extremism among the 270,000 Muslims who live in Denmark. Most of the sermons preached in mosques are in Arabic. But Innes said the Danish government should be working with religious organisations rather than resorting to a “negative and legalistic” attack on the rights of minority groups.

The liberties of the centuries-old community of Anglicans in Denmark are being threatened by a draft law requiring all sermons to be translated and submitted to the state, the Church of England’s bishop in Europe has said.

Robert Innes, whose diocese stretches across mainland Europe, has written to the Danish prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, expressing his alarm at what he describes as an “overly restrictive” bind on freedom of expression.

The “several-hundred strong” Anglican community in Denmark centres around the early 19th-century Church of St Albans in Copenhagen’s Churchill Park, designed by Arthur Blomfield in the style of an English parish church.

Denmark’s parliament is expected to debate the legislation, known as the law on sermons in languages ​​other than Danish, in the coming days, after the government said it was necessary to curb the growth of Islamist extremism.

Innes told the Guardian he feared the law, if backed in the Danish parliament, the Folketing, would be replicated elsewhere in Europe at a time when religious minorities were generally finding their freedoms being encroached upon.

“I am sure it comes from a genuine concern about the security of the estate and the monitoring of all religious minorities who might be perceived as a security risk,” Innes said. “I share the ambition of the Danish government to ensure safety and security and the desire that all religious organisations in Denmark conduct their act peacefully but to require translation of sermons into the national language goes too far. It goes in a concerning anti-liberal direction.

“In a democratic society I would hope the government would strive for better cooperation with religious organisations than hastily resorting to legislation interfering with their freedoms.

“This is a first which is why it is so important we find a way to address and encourage the Danish government to find another solution. Because my real concern is that if the Danes do it other countries may copy. That would be a very worrying development indeed.”

The government has said the aim of the law is to “enlarge the transparency of religious events and sermons in Denmark, when these are given in a language other than Danish”.

There is a growing level of concern at a perceived rise of Islamist extremism among the 270,000 Muslims who live in Denmark. Most of the sermons preached in mosques are in Arabic. But Innes said the Danish government should be working with religious organisations rather than resorting to a “negative and legalistic” attack on the rights of minority groups.

The bishop said it was unclear whether the law would require translations to be sent to the government before or after being given, but that in either case it was an impractical and illegitimate constraint.

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