Question

transcript:
during the european middle ages, the catholic church really dominated european civilization. it’s almost impossible to imagine the scope of the church’s power in the middle ages, but let’s try.
first off, the catholic church was the caretaker of the most important thing that christians had, their souls, which, unlike our temporal secular bodies, were eternal. and then there was the parish priest, who played a pivotal role throughout every person’s life, baptizing them, marrying them, hearing their confessions, and providing last rites.
the church also provided all of the social services: it distributed alms money or food given as a donation to the poor, and ran orphanages, and provided what education was available. most europeans would in their lives meet exactly one person who could read the bible, which was only available in latin – their parish priest.
and, the church owned over 1/3 of all the land in europe, which helped make it the most powerful economic and political force on the continent.
and the pope claimed authority over all the kings of europe, as the successor to the roman emperor.
so this was a very powerful institution...

questions:
2a. circle which claim this document supports.
claim a: the catholic church was very powerful in medieval europe.
claim b: the catholic church was not very powerful in medieval europe.
2b. identify a piece of textual or visual evidence from this document that supports the claim this document makes.

Explanation:

2a.

The document describes the Catholic Church's dominance in European civilization during the Middle Ages. It mentions the Church's role in spiritual matters, social services, owning 1/3 of European land, and the Pope's authority over kings, all indicating great power. So it supports Claim A.

To support Claim A, we can use textual evidence from the document. For example, "the church owned over 1/3 of all the land in Europe, which helped make it the most powerful economic and political force on the continent" shows its economic and political power. Or "the Pope claimed authority over all the kings of Europe, as the successor to the Roman Emperor" shows its political authority. Or "the Catholic Church was the caretaker of the most important thing that Christians had, their souls... [and] played a pivotal role throughout every person’s life" shows its spiritual dominance.

Answer:

A. The Catholic Church was very powerful in Medieval Europe.

2b.