Does Catholicism without the pope best summarise the religion of England at the end of Henrys reign?
… we must say that England was now following a new religion somewhat different to the Church from Rome. However, despite these criticisms, Henry did not completely abandon Catholicism, as he still kept much of the catholic religion, for example, Henry moves from a Lutheran tinged ambiguity of the ten articles in 1536 to the clear orthodoxy of the six articles in 1539. In the six articles, Henry urges the clergy to maintain their vows of chastity and respect clerical celibacy, as opposed to what he had mentioned in the ten articles and to what Luther believed. Henry also insisted on auricular confession and rejected Luther’s ideas of private confession through prayer. Henry also cleared his view on the doctrine of transubstantiation so that there be no possibility of misinterpretation, he also emphasised that communion under both kinds was unnecessary for the laity. In the six articles Henry mentions the importance …
