Archbishop of Canterbury backs pope’s calls for peace amid Trump feud

The archbishop of Canterbury has said she is standing in solidarity with Pope Leo XIV’s calls for peace amid his public feud with Donald Trump.

Days after the US president objected to comments from the head of the Catholic church suggesting a “delusion of omnipotence” was fuelling the US-Israeli war in Iran, Sarah Mullally urged Anglicans to join Leo’s “courageous” call.

Her statement came as the pontiff warned on Thursday that the world was being “ravaged by a handful of tyrants”.

Mullally said: “I stand with my brother in Christ, his holiness Pope XIV, in his courageous call for a kingdom of peace. As innocent people are killed and displaced, families torn apart and futures destroyed, the human cost of war is incalculable.”

She urged Christians to “work and pray for peace”. She did not directly address Trump in the statement but said: “We must also urge all those entrusted with political authority to pursue every possible peaceful and just means of resolving conflict.”

Mullally, who will travel to Rome later this month to meet and pray with Leo, added: “I therefore urge Anglicans across the Church of England and the Anglican communion to join with his holiness in raising our voices for peace and justice throughout the world.”

Leo’s comments on “delusion” were made at evening prayer in the Vatican on Saturday as the US and Iran began face-to-face negotiations in Pakistan. The pope did not mention the US or Trump by name, but his tone and message appeared to be directed at Trump and American officials.

Trump responded on Sunday with a lengthy social media post calling Chicago-born Leo “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy,” and suggesting he only got his position “because he was an American, and they thought that would be the best way to deal with President Donald J Trump”.

Trump told reporters: “I’m not a fan of Pope Leo,” and he posted an AI-generated image of himself as a Jesus-like figure appearing to cure a man, which he later deleted.

On Monday en route to Algeria, the pope told reporters he was not a politician and that he did not want to enter into a debate with Trump. He said: “I’m not afraid of the Trump administration or speaking out loudly of the message of the gospel, which is what I believe I am here to do, what the church is here to do.”

On Thursday during a four-nation tour in Africa, Leo remained outspoken in his criticism of war and his want for peace. Speaking at a cathedral in Bamenda, in the west of Cameroon, he said: “Blessed are the peacemakers. But woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic and political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth.”

He added: “The world is being ravaged by a handful of tyrants, yet it is held together by a multitude of supportive brothers and sisters.”

Criticism of Trump’s insults of the pope has come from many quarters, including from Italy’s far-right prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, who is ideologically in tune with Trump but who said she found his “words towards the Holy Father unacceptable”.

The US vice-president, JD Vance, a Catholic convert, has urged the Vatican to “stick to matters of morality … and let the president of the United States stick to dictating American public policy”.