World leaders are “feeding” wars instead of the hungry, Pope Leo said, telling the World Food Programme (WFP) that global priorities were badly skewed, Reuters reports.

Leo, who has been more outspoken on political issues in recent months, urged governments to increase their spending to combat hunger and not subject food aid to limits based on geopolitical concerns.

“Conflicts are ‘fed’ more readily than people are nourished,” the first US pope said in a visit to the Rome headquarters of the WFP.

“This reality reflects not only operational shortcomings but also a fundamental imbalance in political and moral priorities,” he said.

Leo, who drew Trump’s ire earlier this year after criticising the Iran war, did not mention any specific leaders.

After his address at the WFP headquarters, the pope also took part in a virtual call with agency workers in several countries, including Venezuela and Lebanon.