Letter: Just whose faith is he defending anyway?

Sir: With regard to the letter from the Rev Michael Morton (30 June), the title Defender of the Faith was conferred on Henry VIII in 1521 by Pope Leo X in recognition of the king's treatise attacking the Protestant Luther. It was certainly not intended to affirm the Crown in its symbolic task of upholding Christian values, but rather to shore up the Roman Catholic Church in its struggle against a form of the Christian faith that was trying to make a real difference in society.

It is ironic that Henry later disestablished the Roman Catholic Church in order to dump Catherine and marry Anne Boleyn.

Yours sincerely,

P. J. CAMERON

Whitstable, Kent