Pope Francis said the desecration of the Holy Quran has made him angry and disgusted, and that he condemned and rejected permitting the act as a form of freedom of speech.

The pope’s comments come after a man desecrated the Holy Quran in Sweden’s capital Stockholm last week, resulting in strong condemnation from several states, including Turkiye whose backing Sweden needs to gain entry to the Nato military alliance.

“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 newspaper Al Ittihad, published on Monday.

“I feel angry and disgusted at these actions,” the pope said. “Freedom of speech should never be used as a means to despise others and allowing that is rejected and condemned.”

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

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

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia summoned Sweden’s ambassador to denounce the desecration of the Holy Quran, state media reported early on Monday.

The kingdom home to the holiest sites in Islam had already condemned the incident.

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.