Question

Why did the catholic church express interest in the exploration of foreign lands? the catholic church was interested in gaining new converts to the religion. the catholic church had a large financial interest in controlling trade routes. the catholic church was in competition with protestants over trade routes. the catholic church thought exploration was the best way to prevent heresy.

Answer 1

The Catholic Church was interested in gaining new converts to the religion.

Answer 2

The correct answer is the catholic church was interested in gaining new converts to the religion.

The exploration of the New World by Europeans countries was heavily influenced by religion. A perfect example of this would be Spain.

Spain, a predominantly Catholic country, saw exploration as a new way to increase the amount of Catholics on a global scale. These Spanish conquerors saw the conversion of Indians to Catholicism as a means to save their souls from their "savage" ways. This idea of converting Indians (aka Native Americans) to Catholicism was based on the concept that Europeans were superior to Indians.