The populist Sweden Democrats (SD) have called on the Church of Sweden to establish itself in the no-go Malmö area of Rosengård, stating that the area is perceived as a Muslim enclave.
The party presented a motion to the local Malmö government calling on the church to establish a Christian meeting place to undertake missionary work in the area and help expose new migrant arrivals to Christianity — until recently Sweden’s dominant culture.
“One of the Swedish church’s basic tasks is missionary work and thus it goes without saying that the Church of Sweden should be present in precisely those areas where there is currently no Christian presence and where there are many Malmö residents who can possibly convert,” the motion states.
According to a report from newspaper Världen Idag, the SD want a church in the area to “break the monopoly of Islam when it comes to religious presence in the area.”
According to the newspaper, the area had a Church of Sweden church that was inaugurated in 1970 but due to lack of attendance and membership, it was eventually turned into a general community centre.
The area does have one active church, however, a Roman Catholic church that was inaugurated in 1990.
The closest Church of Sweden church to Rosengard, the Västra Skrävlinge church, lies just outside of the no-go area and last year was subjected to vandalism in August for seven days in a row, with vandals breaking windows and a statue of Jesus.
Mikael Göth, the supervising priest at the church, commented don the vandalism saying, “People are distraught, anxious, and worried for their safety.”
“We got a wave of seven nights in a row” he said and added, “They went to church, smashed windows, made a disturbance, and knocked over the statue. Now we have guards and the police are involved.”
During that same month, locals in Malmo took part in riots and attacks against police after members of the Danish anti-Islam party Stram Kurs (Hard Line) burned a copy of the Qur’an in Rosengard.