Pope Pius IX and the Confederacy

The Catholic Knight ^ | 2 Feb, 2009 | The Catholic Knight

[Verginius Rufus]

I don't know when Pius IX sent the crown of thorns to Jefferson Davis, but I had assumed it was after the war when Davis was being held prisoner. When John Surratt, son of Mary Surratt, enlisted in the armed forces of the Papal States under an assumed name but was recognized, they were willing to extradite him back to the US (but he escaped, perhaps with the connivance of the prison guards).

There is a street named for Pope Pius IX in Macon, GA, under the Italian version of his name--Pio Nono.

[rahbert]

The Pope should have kept his nose out of our affairs.

Coming in on the pro slavery side would hardly become
the successor to Peter and representative to our Lord on earth.

[Colonel Kangaroo]

There are many possible reasons why this pontiff would be sympathetic to the CSA and her president, but the most likely one was that Pope Pius IX recognized in the culture and ideology of the South a mindset opposed to the advance of liberal modernism.

I guess Pius didn't read the Confederate vice president's defense of slavery and the Confederacy which made reference to social-Darwinist modern pseudo-scientific justification for the institution of slavery.

[rogernz]

you are mistaken, the pope supported the south not lincoln.

[Bulldawg Fan]

Maybe the French should have kept their nose out of our affairs in the Revolution period too?

[Non-Sequitur]

"One incident during this period greatly tried American and Papal relations. In 1863, during the thick of the American Civil War, Pius IX sent a letter to the Archbishops of New York and New Orleans suggesting that every effort be made for the cause of peace. Confederate President Jefferson Davis responded to this letter. Pius IX responded in turn to Davis, addressing him as the "Illustrious and Honorable Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States of America." To many in the North, this salutation was seen as a Papal recognition of the Confederate government. Vatican Secretary of State Giacomo Antonelli disputed this, insisting that the Pope in no way intended to make a political statement in his address to Mr. Davis."

Source: King, Rufus. "Letter to William H. Seward, 11 May 1864." United States Ministers to the Papal States, Volume I. Ed. L.F. Stock. Washington, D.C.: Catholic University Press, 1933. 295.

[Colonel Kangaroo]

Maybe the French should have kept their nose out of our affairs in the Revolution period too?

The revolution was American versus Europeans. Two different nations. The Civil War was Americans versus Americans in a fight amongst ourselves. It was despicable for the Confederacy to court intervention from Europe against their countrymen. The founding patriots had enough trouble evicting them the 1sy time.

[rahbert]

Yes I know - are you asserting that Lincoln was not the
president of the US and in opposition to the Confederacy?

[fortunate sun]

There are some conspiracy theorists who believe Opus Dei was involved with the Lincoln assassination.

[nickcarraway]

sympathy the South gained from Europe's most influential monarch

Hmmmm. Really? I doubt the case could be made.

I wonder if the Pope really knew what was going on. Popes have usually considered the U.S. a kind of backwater. I wonder if Pope Pius IX really had any clue what was going on here.

[Henry.David]

Didn’t the North recognize him as the President of the Confederacy too? What history book did I miss?

[rogernz]

whats up with your anger towards the south and catholics?

the secession of the south was legitimate and the pope merely sent some kind words to the south...

[nickcarraway]

How did they do that, when they didn’t even exist until 1928?

[nickcarraway]

The North only recognized him when he worse a sash that said, “president.” Otherwise, they couldn’t tell the difference between Southerners.

[rogernz]

no, I am asserting Lincoln was pro-slavery. did he not personally keep slaves before and after the war?

[Bubba Ho-Tep]

no, I am asserting Lincoln was pro-slavery. did he not personally keep slaves before and after the war?

No, he did not. Lincoln never owned a slave in his life.

[Colonel Kangaroo]

whats up with your anger towards the south and catholics?

the secession of the south was legitimate and the pope merely sent some kind words to the south...

I'm a southerner whose family has been in the south many generations and that's why I've got no use for the Confederacy. They did much evil to my part of the world. It helps to realize that the South is not the Confederacy and vice-versa. I think a lot of southerners get them mixed up.

I don't think there was anything legit about the the secession, not constitutionally, nor in the hasty rabble-rousing by which it was promoted and not in the political dirty tricks resorted to when all else failed. It proved its illegitimacy when it failed to sustain itself in the trial by fire.

Why is it hatred of Catholics to suggest that Pius had a misconception about the CSA?

[kalee]

dixie ping

[fortunate sun]

I just report conspiracy theories. I don’t attest to the accuracy of such theories.