Pope Francis has declared that he rejected the authorization of the burning of the Holy Quran in an interview with UAE’s newspaper al-Ittihad, adding that such acts made him angry.

“Any book considered holy should be respected to respect those who believe in it,” the pope said. “I feel angry and disgusted at these actions”

The remarks are considered the first statement by the head of the Catholic Church about incidents of burning copies of the Holy Quran in Sweden.

“Allowing this is unacceptable and condemned,” he said, stressing that freedom of expression should not be used as an excuse to offend others. “Our mission is to transform the religious sense into cooperation, fraternity, and tangible acts of goodness.”

A man tore up and burned a Quran in Sweden’s capital Stockholm last week, resulting in strong condemnation from several countries. 

While Swedish police have rejected several recent applications for anti-Quran demonstrations, courts have overruled those decisions, saying they infringed freedom of speech.

On Sunday, an Islamic grouping of 57 states said collective measures are needed to prevent acts of desecration to the Quran and international law should be used to stop religious hatred.