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Pius X beatifies Joan of Arc

On 18 April 1909 Pius X beatified Joan of Arc. In the causal graph this event strengthens Social Cohesion, a driver that strengthens Having a say in government — an improving welfare path.

Sources: [1][2]

Read the full account

On 18 April 1909 Pius X beatified Joan of Arc.

Context

Third Republic church-state conflict made a national saint politically useful. Use as a party brand is a later polarisation Fact.

Joan of Arc is not the sole author of every later object, law, or museum label that uses the name. Shared work with courts, excavators, printers, spouses, officials, and later states does not erase a documented role, and it does not make an ancient person the signer of a twentieth-century statute.

Why it matters

Cult-memory path. High confidence on the decree.

Keep the two Vatican dates.

Who was responsible

Contribution type and responsibility level for each recorded actor — not sole-author shorthand.

  • Joan of Arc

    Person

    Direct responsibility

    responsibility level 0.15 · verified

    Complex: Vatican beatification about a fifteenth-century executed woman. She did not sign 1909.

What changed

Fact → Driver → Indicator. Relationship strength orders the paths; it is not the observed indicator movement.

    1. FactPius X beatifies Joan of Arc
    2. strengthensDriverSocial Cohesion
    3. strengthensIndicators (2)Having a say in government
    Improving path

    impact weight 0.55 · Effect from 18 April 1909 · verified

    A public cult decree concentrated Catholic memory around a named laywoman’s legal destruction and later reversal, a cohesion path with nationalist overflow stored elsewhere.

    • Having a say in government

      via Social Cohesion

      Better

      Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.25 (weight 0.55 × strength 0.45)

      Observed

      29.8% of population aged 16-65 years · 8.13 below the normal line (2023)

      Worse than normal

      Two readings: 30.2% of population aged 16-65 years (2021) and 29.8% of population aged 16-65 years (2023).

      20212023

      Above normal = better

    • Rule of Law Gap from the Highest Governance Score

      via Social Cohesion

      Better

      Weakens · Relationship strength 0.25 (weight 0.55 × strength 0.45)

      Observed

      43.9 Score · 43.9 above the normal line (2024)

      Worse than normal

      26 readings, 1996–2024: rose from 43 Score to 43.9 Score.

      Normal is zero · any amount = worse

Evidence

The sources behind this fact and its verification state.

Verified2 sources on file
  1. 1.Britannica — Saint Joan of ArcEncyclopaedia Britannica · High credibility · verified
  2. 2.Holy See — Vatican official siteHoly See · High credibility · verified
What the sources establish

The Holy See portal and Britannica independently date the 1909 beatification.

Established: 1909 beatification. Not established: that beatification measured Orléans’s 1429 welfare, or that it cancelled colonial uses of her name.

Causal path

How this event connects to drivers and indicators in the graph.

  1. ActorJoan of Arc
  2. contributed toFactPius X beatifies Joan of Arc
  3. strengthensDriverSocial Cohesion
  4. strengthensIndicatorHaving a say in government

Cite this page

Factrail. (2026). Pius X beatifies Joan of Arc. Factrail. https://factrail.ai/facts/joa-beatification-1909

https://factrail.ai/facts/joa-beatification-1909

Accessed 16 October 2026.

By the Factrail desk · Method: how we source and score · Last reviewed

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