Claims Against the Catholic Church

[Craig Hipkins]

(11-25-2012 09:13 AM)Rogerm Wrote:  Thanks for for your statement about Pope Pius IX, Craig. I was wondering if any other sovereign nations had recognized the legitimacy of the Confederate government.

I don't believe that any other nations ever formally recognized the Confederate States of America as a sovereign nation. In fact, Jefferson Davis' main motive for talking with the Holy See was not to get official recognition of his government, but to attempt to influence Pius' view of the conflict. He was keenly aware that the North was recruiting heavily from the Irish Catholics who supplied an almost unlimited amount of manpower to the Union cause. Davis knew that the Pope would never support the southern cause because of the slavery issue, however he thought that he might succeed in at least getting him to influence the American Bishops to lobby for an end to the war.

Craig