Joan of Arc an example of service for politicians today

St. Joan of Arc is "a beautiful example of holiness for lay people involved in politics”, especially in “the most difficult situations". Continuing his series of lessons on the great women in the Church of the Middle Ages, Pope Benedict XVI dedicated his Wednesday audience to the French saint burnt at the stake in 1430, at the young age of 18.

Raised in a religious family, Joan enjoyed mystical experiences from an early age. At a time of crisis in the Church and of war in her native France, she felt God’s call to a life of prayer and virginity, and to personal engagement in the liberation of her compatriots. At the age of seventeen, Joan began her mission among the French military forces; she sought to negotiate a just Christian peace between the English and French, took an active part in the siege of Orleans and witnessed the coronation of Charles VII at Rheims. Captured by her enemies in 1429, she was tried by an ecclesiastical court and burnt at the stake as a heretic; she died invoking the name of Jesus.

In comments in Italian he described her as “one of those strong women who brought the light of the Gospel in history to the end of the Middle Ages", whose luminous witness invites us to a high standard of Christian life: making prayer the mainstay of our days, following the will of God whatever it may be, living love without favouritisms and without limits".

Pope Benedict observed that her trial “is a shocking page in the history of the Saints and also an illuminating page on the mystery of the Church which, in the words of Vatican II, is at once holy and always in need of purification. It was a dramatic encounter between this Saint and her judges, who were clergymen. Joan was accused by them and found guilty, to be condemned as a heretic and sent to the terrible death of the fire".

He says her judges were "theologians who lacked the charity and humility to see the action of God in this young woman " and who bring to mind the words of Jesus, "the mysteries of God are revealed to those who have the hearts of children, while remaining hidden from the learned and wise. " Thus, Joan’s judges "were fundamentally unable to understand her, to see the beauty of her soul: they did not know they were condemning Saint”.

However, concluded Pope Benedict “her unjust condemnation was overturned twenty-five years later. At the heart of Saint Joan’s spirituality was an unfailing love for Christ and, in Christ, for the Church and for her neighbour. May the prayers and example of Saint Joan of Arc inspire many lay men and women to devote themselves to public life in the service of God’s Kingdom, and encourage all of us to live to the fullest our lofty calling in Christ”.