Pope Francis condemns Quran desecration in Sweden
By Muhammad Abdurrahman
Pope Francis expressed his strong disapproval of the burning of the Quran, stating that he was both angry and disgusted by the act. He rejected any notion that this action could be considered a form of freedom of speech.
Recently, there was an incident of Quran’s desecration in Sweden where a man burned a copy of the sacred book outside a mosque in the country’s capital city. The Pope has made remarks in response to this event.
On Sunday, 57 Muslim states — under the banner of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation — said that collective measures are needed to prevent acts of desecration of the Quran and that international law should be used to stop religious hatred.
Swedish police had granted Momika a permit in line with free speech protections, but authorities later said they had opened an investigation over “agitation against an ethnic group”, noting that Momika had burnt pages from the Islamic holy book very close to the mosque.
Sweden’s government condemned Momika’s actions on Sunday, calling them “Islamophobic”.