Confederate Pope

Actually, the Vatican was the only country to officially recognize the Confederacy, although the British built us some great commerce raiders like the CSS Alabama, Florida, and Shenandoah.

Just in case anyone hasn't seen this:



It is the Mississippi State Flag. Thanks to Mike Scruggs for forwarding!

Pope Pius IX was well known for his connections to the Confederacy. From Wikipedia:

During Confederate President Jefferson Davis’ imprisonment following the defeat of the Confederacy, Pope Pius IX sent a picture of himself to Davis with the hand-written inscription: “Come unto me, all ye who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Along with this picture, the pope sent a miniature crown of thorns which he had woven with his own hands. Such a gift, said a great niece, was “never before conferred on any but crowned heads.” Robert E. Lee, pointing to his own portrait of Pius IX whistling Dixie, told a visitor that he was “the only sovereign…in Europe who recognized our poor Confederacy.”

Also worth noting is Judah Benjamin's and Jefferson Davis' correspondence to Pope Pius IX during the War for Southern Independence. This letter from President Davis of September 23, 1863, is especially moving:

Most Venerable Chief of the Holy See and Sovereign Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church,

The letters which your Holiness addressed to the venerable chiefs of the Catholic clergy in New Orleans and New York have been brought to my attention, and I have read with emotion the terms in which you are pleased to express the deep sorrow with which you regard the slaughter, ruin, and devastation consequent on the war now waged by the Government of the United States against the States and people over which I have been chosen to preside, and in which you direct them, and the clergy under their authority, to exhort the people and the rulers to the exercise of mutual charity and the love of peace. I as deeply sensible of the Christian charity and sympathy with which your Holiness has twice appealed to the venerable clergy of your church, urging them to use and apply all study and exertion for the restoration of peace and tranquillity.