Sweden as most other countries in Europe can be characterized as a multi-cultural and multi-religious society. One of the most prominent actors in inter-religious relations is the Swedish national church. However, such involvement can also be subject for public criticism and debate. Different expectations concerning cooperation with the Swedish Muslim community became visible in the public media and in national church media when an assemblyin Stockholm decided to hire an imamin a multi-religious youth project. This media case highlights social tensions on the national level as well as within the church, concerning the role of the national church as an actor in the interreligious society. The purpose of this contribution is to analyse this debate with a focus on the arguments used by the debaters. A second purpose is to analyse how the young people are portrayed in this debate. The material is based on articles in Swedish public media and Swedish national church media during Mars to September 2011. The debate mainly focuses on the borders for what should be included and excluded by a national church in a multi-religious society.

Diskutant är Björn Falkevall.

Frågor besvaras av Karin Gunnarsson: karin.gunnarsson@cehum.su.se eller Geir Skeie: geir.skeie@cehum.su.se.