[NYer]

In a letter dated 1246 from Grand Khan Guyuk, pictured, to Pope Innocent IV, Genghis Khan's grandson demands that the Pontiff travel to central Asia in person

[NYer]

One of the most unusual documents is a letter written on birch bark in 1887 by the Ojibwe Indians of Ontario, Canada, to Pope Leo XIII. The letter, written in May but datelined “where there is much grass, in the month of the flowers”, addresses the pontiff as “the Great Master of Prayer” and offers thanks to the Vatican for having sent a “custodian of prayer” (a bishop) to preach to them.

Ping!

[Enosh]

'... the civil war raging across America was entirely due to “Northern aggression”.'

So little has changed in this respect, then.

[Crolis]

It's interesting to consider that the fact of the Catholic Church's existence and meticulous record keeping for over two millennia has allowed it to also serve as a nexus for historical events.

Amazon has the book listed for a bit under $100.00 here.

Here is the publisher's link. They also have a very expensive special edition.

[iowamark]

Interesting link at the article to an April 2009 story in The Daily Telegraph:

Vatican planned to move to Portugal if Nazis captured wartime Pope
Secret plans were drawn up by the Vatican to elect a new Pope and flee to a friendly country should Hitler have carried out his threat to kidnap the wartime Pontiff, it was claimed yesterday.

Pope Pius XII told senior bishops that should he be arrested by the Nazis, his resignation would become effective immediately, paving the way for a successor, according to documents in the Vatican's Secret Archives.

The bishops would then be expected to flee to a safe country – probably neutral Portugal – where they would re-establish the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church and appoint a new Pontiff.

That Hitler considered kidnapping the Pope has been documented before, but this is the first time that details have emerged of the Vatican's strategy should the Nazis carry out the plan...

"Pius wouldn't leave voluntarily. He had been invited repeatedly to go to Portugal or Spain or the United States but he felt he could not leave his diocese under these severe and tragic circumstances." Vatican documents, which still remain secret, are believed to show that Pius was aware of a plan formulated by Hitler in July 1943 to occupy the Vatican and arrest him and his senior cardinals. ""

[Teacher317]

A secret archive in the Vatican? So everything Dan Brown wrote must be true!!!

[Batman11]

Vatican ping

[vladimir998]

“In a letter dated 1246 from Grand Khan Guyuk to Pope Innocent IV, Genghis Khan’s grandson demands that the pontiff travel to central Asia in person – with all of his “kings” in tow – to “pay service and homage to us” as an act of “submission”, threatening that otherwise “you shall be our enemy”.”

And where are you now Guyuk?

[dangus]

What’s interesting about the Jefferson Davis letter isn’t its contents, which are simply typical of Southern rhetoric at the time, but that Davis apparently cared what the Pope thought. Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address” always struck me as peculiarly Catholic in thought, too. (Not saying Lincoln had any affinities towards Catholicism, just that I now wonder whether he may have also had some interest in how Catholics would regard the case he was laying out, for whatever reason.)

The pope never weighed in on the Civil War, to my knowledge, but shortly afterwards, consecrated the States to the Immaculate Conception.

[Steelfish]

Apologies for the duplicate-post!

[afraidfortherepublic]

Fascinating post. Thank you.