Bishop Lynch as Special Commissioner
In 1864, Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederate States of America, named Bishop Lynch as special commissioner of the Confederate States of America to the States of the Church. He went to Rome on a diplomatic mission to meet with Pope Pius IX and present himself as the minister of the Confederate States, in hopes of gaining recognition of the confederacy. Pius IX never met with Lynch in his capacity as special commissioner. The pope did not endorse or support the succession of the Confederate States, and Lynch’s position as a diplomat went no further. After the war, Lynch was in danger of imprisonment and was required to sign an oath of allegiance in exchange for a full pardon. While in Paris, France, he signed the allegiance and received a declaration of pardon.