Refer to the passage. "And the Reverend Father President of the Missions [Serra], assigned to the charge of Monterey, mentions, in detail and with particular satisfaction, the affability of the Indians, and the promise which they had already made him, to intrust their children to him to instruct them in the mysteries of our holy Catholic religion. That pattern and zealous minister of our religion adding a minute account of the solemn masses which had been celebrated from the arrival of the two expeditions to the departure of the packet San Antonio, and of the solemn procession of the most holy sacrament, which took place on the day of Corpus Christi, the 14th of June, with other noteworthy events that prove the special providence with which God has deigned to favor the successful issue of these expeditions, as a reward, doubtless, for the fervent zeal of our august sovereign, whose incomparable piety acknowledges as the highest obligation of his royal crown in these vast dominions, the extension of the faith of Jesus Christ, and the welfare of the wretched heathen, who being without knowledge of the gospel, groan under the tyrannical bondage of the common enemy."

Report from the Portolá expedition on the establishment of Catholic missions at the request of King Charles III of Spain, 1770

How did ideas similar to those expressed in the passage contribute to Spanish imperialism in the 18th century?

A)The government used the conversion of indigenous peoples to Catholicism to establish control of a territory.

B)The Catholic Church used the sanctioning of religious missions by the government to command new territory.

C)The missions built by the Catholic Church were created to protect settlers arriving in newly established colonies.

D)The spread of Catholicism was used to integrate indigenous peoples into the social hierarchy of the colonies.