Pope Francis decries desecration of Quran in Sweden
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Pope Francis urges people to embrace the principles espoused in the Document on Human Fraternity.
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Pope Francis waves during his weekly general audience in the Paul VI hall at the Vatican on October 14, 2020 (AFP)
Pope Francis has denounced a decision by Sweden to allow the desecration of a copy of the Quran outside a Stockholm mosque, voicing “anger and disgust” over the move.
Pope Francis urged people to embrace the principles espoused in the Document on Human Fraternity in an interview for the United Arab Emirates newspaper Al-Ittihad, while also lamenting the burning of the Quran, Islam's most sacred book, in Sweden.
"I feel indignant and disgusted by these actions," he said.
“Any book considered sacred by its authors must be respected out of respect for its believers, and freedom of expression must never be used as an excuse to despise others, and to allow this, must be rejected and condemned,” he added.
On Wednesday, a man named Salwan Momika, 37, burned a copy of the Muslim Holy book outside the Stockholm Central Mosque. He was granted a permit from Swedish authorities prior to carrying out his act.
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Two weeks earlier, a Swedish appeals court rejected the police's decision to deny permits for those who wanted to wage protests involving the burning of the Quran.
Momika's desecration of the Quran was made to coincide with the Muslim festivity of Eid Al-Adha, which commemorates the end of the annual Hajj pilgrimage and is celebrated by hundreds of millions of Muslims around the world.
The European Union condemned Saturday the Quran burning that took place in Sweden, urging for the avoidance of escalation and underlining that in the eyes of the bloc, the burning of any holy book is a "provocation". The condemnation came in a statement issued by the European External Action Service (EEAS).
