kwaw
Maybe this "christianization" in RWT is more about paleo-christian than church's Christianity?
Waite was dissaffected with the Church* - for him it was a 'widow', having become seperated from the inner, spiritual church. If it was Church going Christianity he was interested in then no doubt he would have maintained the Popesse and the Pope - the change does not reflect IMO a de-christianization of the tarot, but of a faith in Christ that does not require the intermediary of church or priest, the sacred marriage is an inner state between the soul and divine - a mystical, inward process individual and open to us all.
Kwaw
* Waite was raised a Roman Catholic following the conversion of his mother. He was quite staunch in his beliefs, and wrote for the Church and was anti-protestant. He suffered a loss of faith following the death of his sister - while his faith in Christ returned he did not return to the church. However, he continued to believe that the Roman Catholic Church was the one that truly contained the 'mysteries of Christ'. Israel Regardie described him as 'a Roman Catholic masquerading as an occultist', now it seems some regard him as an occultist masquerading as a Christian... as if the two are irreconcilable and a Christian Hermetic tradition has never existed. All I can say is - he was a complex guy! Perhaps no one will ever get to truly see behind his smoke and mirrors...
One thing is for sure, he was a prolific editor, reviewer, writer & correspondent, adminstrated his own orders while attending as a member several others - all while working on his day job for Horlicks - the guy had a lot of energy, got to admire him for that.