Thomas More criticized 16th century Catholicism which is paradoxical. Indeed, More was venerated in the Catholic Church as Saint Thomas More, yet in his book Utopia, some of the practices and institutions of the Utopians such as the ease of divorce and both married priests and female priests seemed to be the opposites of More’s beliefs, of the teachings of the Catholic Church of which he was a devout member. Moreover, Thomas More’s Utopia was inspired by Plato’s Republic, a Socratic dialogue concerning justice, the order and character of the just, city-state and the just man.
As opposed to Christianity, the Italian Renaissance was focused on secularism - the separation of religion and state, therefore, Machiavelli sees religion as a man-made.