Religious practice in Utopia

Utopians have freedom of religion in their law, and represent a whole host of beliefs - although these beliefs all center around a God who is the source of morality and goodness. No one forces beliefs on anyone, there are no violent fights or rebellions between sects, both of which were very common happenings in More's time. More himself was a devout Catholic, martyred as a result of rejecting Henry's Anglican reform. This section perhaps suggests that he was tolerant of different beliefs but saw political conflict as an evil and still held Christianity superior - we see that despite the religious freedom in the land, most Utopians convert when given the chance by Hythloday.

However, there are still many very important differences between Utopian Christianity and the Catholic Church. Utopian priests are very pious, devoted, and holy - there are also few of them. At the time, reformers of the Catholic Church worked towards this, they saw an excessive number of priests with questionable moral and religious codes. Utopian churches also have no visual images or idols; in the same way, Catholic reformers called for fewer sacred figures to be depicted, claiming they distract from Jesus and holy worship. Another very radical difference in Utopia is that women have the ability to become priests - which was unheard of in any form of Christianity at the time. Women were not able to become ordained in any capacity until the 19th and 20th centuries, and even to this day, women cannot become Catholic priests.

It's very interesting to me to see some of the religious acceptance and progression in the text, because those are things that are common today. Save for the priests having supreme power in the land, the Utopian world is much like our world today. But it's a fair guess that in Thomas More's time, a place like Utopia would have been regarded as outrageous and religiously heretical.