St. Joan of Arc — Victim of Love

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God raised up an uneducated, 17-year-old maid, Joan of Arc, who inspired countrymen to patriotism and to love of the Church. Two years later, she'd give her life as a witness to that love, which couldn't be shaken by evil representatives of the Church or by weak representatives of the State.

Joan was not tried and subsequently condemned by "the Church" in 1430 but rather by a small, hostile clique, misusing a Church court for their political purposes. Twenty-five years later, an investigation approved by Pope Calixtus III would generate a decree, nullifying the former condemnation. This decree reads:

We state and pronounce, decree and declare the aforesaid trial and sentence —being filled with fraud, false charges, injustice, contradiction and manifest errors concerning both fact and law — together with the aforementioned abjuration, execution and all that resulted, to have been, to be and will be null, without effect, void and of no consequence.

The fact that she was condemned by Churchmen as a heretic and then turned over to civil authorities to be burned at the stake for heresy didn't stop her from loving God or His Church.

Before the original sham trial began, Joan was also betrayed by the very man she helped crown king of France, Charles VII. After her capture by English forces, a bishop implored Charles VII to come to Joan's assistance. The king turned a deaf ear. The Maid of Orleans would die seemingly forsaken by Church and homeland while wanting nothing more than to love both.

Watch the panel discuss how these tragic events contained the plan of God in The Download—St. Joan of Arc.

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