He had the excuse for his selfishness and lust that he needed the heir so his actions were really for the highest and most noble motives. That might have given him at least the veneer of a good reason for pressing ahead with the split with Rome, since securing the nation sounds a lot better on the surface than wanting to dump a barren older wife for a sexy younger one who wasn't prepared to sleep with him before marrying him.
Also, Henry wasn't stupid, and he must have known that the Pope was politically involved as well as spiritually involved since the Holy Roman Emperor was Catherine's nephew, so Henry had all sorts of good excuses if he needed them. We can see today how "holy" men manage to excuse all sorts of bizarre behaviour, and human nature is basically the same now as it was back then.
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