The elite Swiss Guard watching over conclave have a dramatic role as papal bodyguards

Yahoo

09-05-2025

Armor like a knight on horseback. A helmet with bright-colored plumes sticking out. Wide blue and gold-striped pants that can seem almost clown-like.
The Swiss Guard, the pope's iconic bodyguards, look ceremonial but in the pageantry of the Renaissance-style uniform lies the answer to why they will be protecting the Sistine Chapel on May 7 as cardinals assemble to choose the successor to Pope Francis.
Their uniform is an homage to the epic last stand the guards once made to defend the pope. It's a declaration that they are willing to do so again, according to Bry Jensen, a historian and host of a podcast about the papacy.
'The reason is the sack of Rome in 1527,' Jensen, host of the Pontifacts show, told USA TODAY. 'One hundred forty-seven of the 189 Swiss Guards, including their commander, died and were torn apart to give Pope Clement VII time enough to escape.'
Renegade soldiers from the Holy Roman Empire decided to attack the city. They were indignant over not being paid and directed their anger against the church, which was seen as corrupt then, according to the Encyclopedia of European History. The attack came amid burgeoning anti-church sentiment in Europe.
Questions about the museum-piece-looking guards and their capabilities come as the conclave begins within the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City. The guards have no part in the process. But they are there to ensure it happens uninterrupted.
The earliest conclaves in the 1400s predate the founding of the Swiss Guard, but since being established in 1506, they have been expected to protect the pope and, in turn, the college of cardinals during periods between church leaders.
Swiss soldiers were originally picked for the position because of their fighting prowess, according to Encyclopedia Britannica. Fighters from the alpine nation were renowned throughout Europe dating back to Roman times, the encyclopedia says, and they proved themselves in 1527.
Their level of readiness has risen and fallen over the centuries. At points, the guards were largely ceremonial. They even mutinied in 1913 when one commander of the troops tried to turn them back into a lethal force again, according to a history of the guards titled The Pope's Soldiers: A Military History of the Modern Vatican by David Alvarez.
But today, they are a force fit to look after the head of the church with 1.4 billion followers worldwide.
Their antique-looking uniforms belie the elite training in counterintelligence, close-quarters combat and bomb disposal that they receive. But for those who know the story, it's a clue to the lengths they are willing to go.
'I swear that I will faithfully, loyally and honorably serve the Supreme Pontiff and his legitimate successors,' the guards say when they are sworn in, 'and dedicate myself to them with all my strength, sacrificing, if necessary, my life to defend them.'
Here's what else to know about the elite guards protecting the cardinals throughout the conclave:
The last stand of the Swiss Guard happened in 1527 when soldiers from the Holy Roman Empire invaded Rome, looking to sack the city. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, they "embarked on an orgy of destruction and massacre, terrorizing the population and humiliating Pope Clement VII."
"The mercenaries, many of them are protestant, so they're really keen to kill some church men, especially the pope," Jensen said. "They're eager to string him up."
Pope Clement VII was saying mass at St. Peter's at that time and had to be whisked away along a special passage connecting the heart of the Vatican to the Castel Sant'Angelo, the longtime fortress of the papacy near St. Peter's, according to the Oxford University Press.
Of 189 guards, 42 went with the pope, according to Jensen. The rest stayed protecting the entrance to the passage, the Passetto di Borgo.
'The rest literally know they are standing there to die, but they last long enough to let the pope get out of dodge,' Jensen said.
Swiss soldiers had already been picked to guard the pope in 1506 by Pope Julius II, known as the 'Warrior Pope.' He chose them because the Swiss were renowned fighters throughout Europe then.
They sealed their place as the pope's official guard for the ages just a few decades later.
There will be 25 more Swiss Guards protecting the Sistine Chapel during the conclave than when Pope Francis was elected in 2013.
At the time, there were 110 Swiss Guards. Today, there are 135.
The change dates back to 2018. Vatican officials cited threats of terrorism during a particularly active year for the papacy.
Unofficially, fans of Pope Francis say it's because the church leader who championed the poor had a habit of sneaking out of the Vatican to spend time with people on the streets of Rome, according to Jensen.
Jules Repond, a Swiss Guard commander in the early 1900s, was the leader who aimed to turn his troops back into a fighting force after years of serving a more ceremonial role, according to the Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
In 1913, Swiss Guards mutinied for a week in response but eventually received military training as Repond wanted, Alvarez wrote in The Pope's Soldiers: A Military History of the Modern Vatican.
Over 50 years later, their readiness was put to the test when Mehmet Ali Ağca shot and wounded Pope John Paul II in Saint Peter's Square in 1981. Swiss Guards failed to stop the Turkish national from hitting the Polish pope, though he survived.
The event was a wake-up call for the papal bodyguards.
Today, they are all still Swiss citizens. Other requirements are that candidates must be a man between the ages of 19 and 30 and a practicing Catholic, according to the official Swiss Guard website.
They must also be single when joining the guard, although they can marry after serving for five years if they are at least 25 years old and commit to serving another three years, the official Swiss Guard website states.
Training begins with two months of basic training. For the first month, recruits train with the Ticino Cantonal Police at the Swiss Police and Army Training Center in Isone, Switzerland. There, the recruits learn firefighting, first aid, shooting, personal safety, self-defense, tactical behavior and the notions of law, the official Swiss Guard website states.
For the second month, recruits train at the Pontifical Swiss Guard Headquarters in Vatican City. They learn proper saluting, individual and group formations, guard changes and how to handle the halberd, a weapon used throughout the 13th to 16th centuries that combines an axe blade with a spike or hook. Recruits also learn Italian, if they aren't already fluent.
Contributing: Greta Cross and Kim Hjelmgaard.
(This story has been updated to correct a misspelling/typo.)
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How the Swiss Guard became the chosen force at the conclave