page_title: Canonization of Joan of Arc
section_title: 20th century to present
hierarchical_section_title: Canonization of Joan of Arc / Path to sainthood / 20th century to present
context_page_description: Joan of Arc was formally canonized as a saint of the Roman Catholic Church on 16 May 1920 by Pope Benedict XV in his bull Divina disponente, which concluded the canonization process that the Sacred Congregation of Rites instigated after a petition of 1869 of the French Catholic hierarchy. Although pro-English clergy had Joan burnt at the stake for heresy in 1431, she was rehabilitated in 1456 after a posthumous retrial. Subsequently, she became a folk saint among French Catholics and soldiers inspired by her story of being commanded by God to fight for France against England. Many French regimes encouraged her cult, and the Third Republic was sympathetic to the canonization petition prior to the 1905 separation of church and state.
context_section_description: However, the path to sainthood did not go smoothly. On 20 August 1902, the papal consistory rejected adding Joan to the Calendar of saints, citing: she launched the assault on Paris on the birthday of Mary, mother of Jesus; her capture ("proof" her claim that she was sent by God was false); her attempts to escape from prison; her abjure after being threatened with death; and doubts of her purity. On 17 November 1903, the Sacred Congregation of Rites met to discuss Joan's cause at the behest of Pope Pius X. A decree proclaiming Joan's heroic virtue was issued on 6 January 1904 by Cardinal Serafino Cretoni, and Pius proclaimed her venerable on 8 January. The Decree of the Three Miracles was issued on 13 December 1908, and The Decree of Beatification was read five days later, which was issued formally by the Congregation of Rites on 24 January 1909.
  The beatification ceremony was held on 18 April 1909, presided by Cardinals Sebastiano Martinelli and Mariano Rampolla. Bishop Stanislas Touchet performed the Mass. Cardinals Serafino Vannutelli, Pierre Andrieu, Louis Luçon, Coullié, Girolamo Maria Gotti, José Calassanç Vives y Tuto, then-Monsignor Rafael Merry del Val, Bishop John Patrick Farrelly, Bishop Thomas Kennedy, Monsignor Robert Seton, Count Giulio Porro-Lambertenghi (grandson of Luigi Porro Lambertenghi) with tribunes from The Knights of Malta, The Duke of Alençon and The Duke of Vendôme, then-Archbishop William Henry O'Connell, and The Duke of Norfolk attended. Pius—who was determined that the ceremony would not be used by Legitimists to attack the Third Republic—venerated the relics that afternoon, flanked by 70 French prelates.
  Her beatification approximately coincided with the French invention of the Janvier transfer engraving machine (also called a die engraving pantograph), which facilitates the creation of minted coins and commemorative medallions. This invention, together with the already well-established French sculptural tradition, added another element to Joan's beatification: a series of well-made religious art medals featuring scenes from her life.
  Edmond Richer's La premiére histoire en date de Jeanne d'Arc: histoire de la Pucelle d'Orléans, written between 1625 and 1630, was published in two volumes in 1911 by Henri and Jules Desclée.
  During World War I, French troops carried her image into battle with them. During one battle, they interpreted a German searchlight image projected onto low-lying clouds as an appearance by Joan, which bolstered their morale greatly. [see: The Maid of Orléans: The Story of Joan of Arc Told to American Soldiers by Charles Saroléa (1918)]
  Her canonization was held on 16 May 1920. Over 60,000 people attended the ceremony, including 140 descendants of Joan's family. Dignitaries included: Vendôme, Lambertenghi with The Knights of Malta, now-Bishop O'Connell, Gabriel Hanotaux, Princess Zinaida Yusupova, Princess Irina Alexandrovna, Prince Feodor Alexandrovich, The Duke of Braganza, The Count de Salis-Soglio, Rafael Valentín Errázuriz, Diego von Bergen, Bishop John Patrick Carroll, Archbishop Edward Joseph Hanna, Bishop Daniel Mary Gorman, Bishop Paul Joseph Nussbaum, the student body of The American College of Rome, and now-Cardinal Merry del Val, who greeted Pope Benedict XV as Benedict entered St. Peter's Basilica to preside over the rites. The Latin bull of Pope Benedict XV effecting her canonization was Divina Disponente of the same date. Approximately 100,000 persons celebrated at Westminster Cathedral and French churches throughout London.
  In the 18 May 1920 Le Matin, former President of France Raymond Poincaré wrote that Joan's canonization "fulfills the last part of her mission in bringing together forever in the sacredness of her memory" one-time mortal enemies England and France: "In her spirit, let us remain united for the good of Mankind".
caption: Commemorative medallion made in France at the time of Joan of Arc's beatification
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