Britain’s Christian leaders have attacked the policies of Donald Trump, saying they are based on fear and could lead to disastrous outcomes.

Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury and leader of the global Anglican communion, said he would welcome the opportunity to try to change Trump’s mind.

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In a joint appearance on LBC radio station with Cardinal Vincent Nichols, leader of the Catholic church in England and Wales, Welby said: “Policies that are based in fear rather than confidence and courage and Christian values of hospitality, of love, of grace, of embrace rather than exclusion, are policies that will lead to terrible results.”

Any country was entitled to protect its security, he added. “But when you mix up genuine threats to security with a dismissal of a whole range of communities out of fear, that’s not good.”



Nichols, archbishop of Westminster, echoed the criticism: “To identify a whole people, a whole nation or a whole religion as the enemy is a desperate road to go down.”



Such a policy put Christians in the Middle East in even greater jeopardy and also did “nothing to help the Muslim community deal with the tensions within it”.



Welby was asked if he backed the invitation issued by prime minister Theresa May to Trump for an official state visit, and whether he would attend a state banquet in Trump’s honour.



The invitation was a “matter for the government”, said Welby. He added: “If I had the opportunity to engage with [Trump], and to debate with him. I would consider it a great privilege to try to persuade him to change his views. I would be glad to have the opportunity to seek to persuade him that what he’s doing, the way this is going, is out of fear.”



However, one of his predecessors, George Carey, has criticised “hysterical” and “baying” critics of the potentially “outstanding” new US president, and said he would attend a state banquet were he still Anglican leader.



Carey, who was archbishop of Canterbury between 1991 and 2002, told Christian Today that while he did not “by and large” agree with Trump, America’s choice should be “honoured and respected” and that Trump “has the strength of personality to be an outstanding president”.



Facebook Twitter Pinterest Welby and Nichols speak to listeners during a live phone-in with Ferrari. Photograph: Victoria Jones/PA

He added: “The extraordinary and hysterical reaction against Donald Trump is deeply worrying and reprehensible and, if allowed to continue, could damage the fabric of democracy.”



Other senior figures in the C of E have voiced criticism of Trump’s policies in refugees and immigration. John Sentamu, the archbishop of York, said: “It is extraordinary that any civilised country should stigmatise and ban citizens of other nations in the matter of providing humanitarian protection … A blanket ban on any individual group is bound to undermine the fundamental principles of asylum.”



Paul Butler, the bishop of Durham, said: “How does a flourish of a signature on an executive order demonstrate to the world that democracy is a good way to govern?

“Like so many others I have been deeply disturbed by the action of President Trump and the manner of that action in relation to immigration and refugees.

“I hope and pray he rapidly recognises that this is not the best way to lead or show leadership in a world of great need.”

