Church leaders condemn Quran desecration in Sweden

Bishops express concern over social media campaigns against Christians

LAHORE:

The senior leadership of the Church of Pakistan has strongly condemns the desecration of the Holy Quran by an Iraqi refugee in Sweden and demanded of the Swedish government to curb such deliberate acts of provocation from its soil and punish the perpetrators.

“The bishops of the Church of Pakistan, representing the Pakistani Christian community, denounce the burning of the Holy Quran reportedly by an atheist whose intentions were clearly to sow discord and damage peace in the world,” stated a joint statement issued by Reverend Emmanuel Khokhar, spokesperson of the Church of Pakistan.

The statement issued by all seven diocesan bishops said that every person who believes in holy books cannot condone the disgusting act of desecrating holy scriptures of any faith.

“Freedom of speech and expression should never be used as a means to despise others. Such actions are committed by individuals who have no association with any religion and they do this to further their own vested interests,” the statement quoted Church of Pakistan’s President Bishop Dr Azad Marshall as saying.

Bishop Marshall said the Pakistani Christian community condemns such actions and wants to assure our Muslim brethren that we understand their pain and anguish and stand with them in solidarity.

“We always have and will continue to raise our voices against such recurring religiously provocative actions. Such acts overtly encourage hatred, exclusion and racism,” he said.

The statement said that resolutions were also presented in all major churches condemning the hateful incidents in Sweden and other countries, including France, Norway and Denmark.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 7^th, 2023.