By 1547 to what extent can Henry VIII's religious settlement be considered 'Catholicism without the Pope'?

It can be argued that to a large extent, by 1540 that the religious society in England can be considered Catholicism without the Pope. Initially when the reformation began Henry pushed for a very protestant doctrine and ideals; with the ten articles act of 1536 removing a number of the catholic sacraments. He not only changed the doctrine, but placed himself as the supreme leader of the church in England with the Act of supremacy. Going on to change the appearance of the church with the acts of dissolution; dissolved all the monasteries and religious houses in England because of their connections to the catholic church.

However, it could be argued that England reverted back to a more catholic religion as in 1539, the six articles act was passed, this restored a number of the catholic sacraments to the doctrine. Henry also began to turn on those who were crucial to the reformation, with Archbishop Cranmer and Thomas Cromwell being executed and ending any further hopes of reform at this time. Therefore, some of the key aspects of the religious reform had began to revert back to how it was before the reformation began.

So, by 1547, Henry’s religious settlement had largely reverted back to how it had been before the reformation had begun. Many aspects of the doctrine had been restored, including several of the sacraments, whose removal during the early reformation had been extremely controversial. At this time, the main difference in regards to religion is that Henry was the leader of the Church and not the Pope.