A parish priest near Svendborg was recognized by her own parishioners while bathing topless on a beach at Nyborg, and the episode has grown into a public debate about how far a priest’s private freedom extends.
Rebecca Aagaard-Poulsen, parish priest at Tved Kirke just outside Svendborg, drove about 30 kilometers to a beach near Nyborg earlier this summer. She wanted to swim topless without meeting anyone from her parish, DR reports.
It did not work. Locals recognized her, stopped, and remarked that it was their sweet little priest, she told DR’s radio program P1 Morgen. A grandchild of the couple, whom she had previously confirmed, also turned up at the beach.
Aagaard-Poulsen said the locals acted out of kindness, but that the situation became totally transgressive for her. She described it as incredibly awkward, and said the female body was quickly read as something sexual or undignified.
Column set off wider debate
The experience prompted her to write a column in Ugeavisen Svendborg, published on August 9, 2026. In it she recounted the Nyborg encounter and argued that it should not be seen as strange for a woman who is also a priest to sunbathe topless. She wrote that she wanted to ask where the boundary lies.
TV 2 Fyn reported on August 18 that she dislikes cold, wet swimwear and therefore usually removes her bikini top after swimming. The station also ran an online poll with more than 10,000 participants, in which over 90 percent said a priest should be allowed to be topless on the beach.
Not all clergy agree. Helga Døssing Bendfeldt, a priest in Sindbjerg north of Vejle, told P1 Morgen that she would neither do it herself nor advise other priests to do so. According to her, the episode sounds intrusive for her colleague, but Aagaard-Poulsen carries the responsibility because of her public role.
Bendfeldt noted that a priest serves both teenage boys and devout elderly parishioners, and that priests bring dignity into people’s lives. She said priests are free like everyone else, but that freedom can limit others. In her view, a priest stands higher in the hierarchy and may choose to sacrifice some personal freedom.
Aagaard-Poulsen told DR she does not accept that she must accommodate parishioners around the clock. She said the strength of the Folkekirke is that priests hold different views, and that being a priest does not mean ceasing to be a human being or a woman when off duty. She will continue to bathe topless when she prefers it.
Kristeligt Dagblad reports that the bishop of Fyens Stift, Mads Davidsen, has defended her choice, and that theologians are divided on the question. According to the parish website for Tved Kirke, one of many churches in Denmark served by a single parish priest, Aagaard-Poulsen has held the post since 2017.
