Pope Benedict XV

From Turtledove

Pope Benedict XV
Historical Figure
Timeline:	OTL
Nationality:	Italy
Religion:	Catholicism
Date of Birth:	1854
Date of Death:	1922
Cause of Death:	Pneumonia
Occupation:	Priest, Pontiff
Timeline:	Southern Victory
Appearance(s):	American Front (oblique reference) through Breakthroughs (oblique reference)

Pope Benedict XV (1854– 1922), born Giacomo Paolo Giovanni Battista della Chiesa, reigned as Pope from September 3, 1914 to January 22, 1922. His pontificate was largely overshadowed by World War I and its political, social and humanitarian consequences in Europe. ‎

Pope Benedict XV in Southern Victory

Pope Benedict XV was Supreme Pontiff of the Catholic Church from 1914 to 1922. His election came shortly after the beginning of the Great War.

Benedict recognized that the international situation could allow the Vatican to extend its influence by supporting the Central Powers, whose members included the Catholic countries of Austria-Hungary, Italy (though it was not participating in the war), Haiti, Chile, and Paraguay; the list would later come to include Brazil, the world's largest Catholic country. On the Entente side were two traditional enemies of the Vatican, Britain and Russia, as well as the secularized Catholic France and the Confederate States, a nation with a historically rocky relationship with the Church.

Thus, he endorsed the Central Powers and rewarded pro-Central Powers clergy such as Pascal Talon, whom he elevated to the bishopric of the newly-created Diocese of Riviere-du-Loup. The Central Powers, in turn, rewarded Benedict with the creation of three new Catholic nations: the Republics of Ireland and Quebec, created from captured British territory, and the Kingdom of Poland, created from overrun Russian territory.

Note: This article is somewhat speculative as the Pope is never directly named, but as the course of Europe had not changed notably, Benedict XV is the likely choice.

Political offices
Preceded by Pope Pius X	Pope 1914-1922	Succeeded by Pope Pius XI