[Pope Francis is being shown the verses of Holy Quran (File Photo)]
Dubai: Pope Francis has condemned the desecration Holy Quran in Sweden, saying that the vile act had "angered and disgusted" him and he refused to acknowledge the act as a form of freedom of speech.
"Any book considered holy should be respected to respect those who believe in it," the pope said in an interview in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) newspaper Al Ittihad, published on Monday.
"I feel angry and disgusted at these actions. "Freedom of speech should never be used as a means to despise others and allowing that is rejected and condemned."
"I feel angry and disgusted at these actions.
"Freedom of speech should never be used as a means to despise others and allowing that is rejected and condemned."
The Papal comments came in response to the latest incident of desecration of Quran in Sweden when a man set a copy of the sacred book ablaze outside a mosque in the country's capital city on the first day of Eid al Adha.
Muslims celebrate Eid al Adha every year to commemorate the sacrifices made by Prophet Ibrahim, his noble wife Hager and their worthy son Prophet Ismael (Peace and blessings of Allah be on all of them).
Interestingly, Prophet Ibrahim (peace be upon him) is revered also by Christians and Jews.
The executive committee of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in a meeting held in Jeddah Sunday called upon member states to unite and take collective measures to prevent similar incidents in the future.
The OIC firmly denounced the act, which it said undermines mutual respect among people and global efforts to foster tolerance and moderation.
OIC Secretary General, Hissein Brahim Taha, emphasized the importance of delivering a clear message that desecrating the Qur’an and insulting Prophet Muhammad are not ordinary incidents of Islamophobia.
He stressed the need for the international community to implement laws that explicitly prohibit the promotion of religious hatred.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has summoned Sweden's ambassador to denounce the Quran-burning incident outside a Stockholm mosque that sparked a diplomatic backlash across the Muslim world, state media reported early Monday.
The kingdom — home to the holiest sites in Islam, in Makkah and Madina— had already condemned Wednesday's incident in which an Iraqi citizen living in Sweden, Salwan Momika, 37, stomped on the Muslim holy book and set several pages alight.
The foreign ministry summoned the ambassador on Sunday to urge Sweden "to stop all actions that directly contradict international efforts seeking to spread the values of tolerance, moderation and rejection of extremism, and undermine the necessary mutual respect for relations between peoples and states", the official Saudi Press Agency reported.
Momika's Quran burning coincided with the start of the Eid ul Adha holiday and the end of the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, triggering widespread anger.
Countries including Iraq, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Morocco have also summoned Swedish ambassadors in protest.
Iran said on Sunday it was holding off on sending its new ambassador to Sweden because of the incident.
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.
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