Iran conflict to forefront of UK religious and political leaders’ Easter messages

Archbishop of Canterbury to issue urgent call for peace, as PM exhorts Britons to ‘choose community over division’ Religious and political leaders in the UK are highlighting the conflict in the Middle East in their Easter messages, calling for “peace, justice and freedom” in the region. The archbishop of Canterbury will deliver her first Easter sermon at Canterbury Cathedral on Sunday as the Church of England’s top bishop. Dame Sarah Mullally will call “with renewed urgency” for peace in the Middle East and pray for “an end to the violence and destruction” in the region. The archbishop’s plea comes as the war, launched by the US and Israel on Iran at the end of February, enters its sixth week. The conflict has so far killed thousands and, beyond the region, has resulted in soaring fuel prices amid an effective blockade of the strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important shipping routes. Mullally is expected to pray that “all people of the region receive the peace, justice and freedom they long for” and will tell the cathedral’s congregation: “This week, our gaze and our prayers have been turned towards the land where Jesus was crucified and rais