Tolkien had a famous dislike of allegory and felt C.S. Lewis' efforts at wrapping Christianity in fiction were clumsy. That said, he still recognised that LOTR is deeply influenced by his devout Catholicism.

He wrote to a friend in 1953:
The Lord of the Rings is a fundamentally religious and Catholic work; unconsciously so at first, but consciously in the revision.

In several other letters he acknowledges that his depiction of Galadriel, as well as aspects of her character, were influenced by Catholic beliefs regarding the Virgin Mary. And it's no co-incidence that the Fellowship leaves Rivendell, beginning the quest to destroy the Ring, on Christmas Day, while the victory celebrations in the Field of Cormallen, marking the end of the quest and its triumph, takes place on Easter Sunday the following spring.

Tolkien was far from heavy-handed in the way he made room for his Catholic faith in LOTR, but closer examination shows why he said the book was a "fundametally religious and Catholic work."
Thiu

PS My first post here!