The elite Swiss Guard watching over conclave have a dramatic role as papal bodyguards
The elite Swiss Guard watching over conclave have a dramatic role as papal bodyguards The answer to why the guards are the pope's chosen protectors lies in their Renaissance-style uniform. It's an homage to an epic last stand they once made.
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Phoenix Bishop John Dolan discusses late Pope Francis and 'Conclave'
Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix Bishop John Dolan talks about Pope Francis and the movie "Conclave" during an interview about the pope's successor.
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 Wednesday 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. '147 of the 189 Swiss Guards including their commander died and were torn apart to give Pope Clement VII time enough to escape.'
Renegade soliders from the Holy Roman Empire decided the sack 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 pre-date the founding of the Swiss Guards 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 Enyclopedia Brittanica. Fighters from the alpine nation were renowned throughout Europe dating back to Roman times, the encylopedia 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.
Epic last stand
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 Brittanica, 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.
Why did the Swiss Guard expand under Francis
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.
When did the Swiss Guard last see action?
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, author David 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 bodyguard.
Today they are all still Swiss citizens. Other requirements are that candidates must be a man between the age 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 they receive 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. Here, 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 ax blade with a spike or hook. Recruits also learn Italian, if they aren't already fluent.
Contributing: Greta Cross and Kim Hjelmgaard.
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To some Vatican watchers, the commission smacks of the Italian-led Secretariat of State taking advantage of a sick pope to announce a new flow of unchecked donations into its coffers after its 600 million euro ($684 million) sovereign wealth fund was taken away and given to another office to manage as punishment for the London fiasco. 'There are no Americans on the commission. I think it would be good if there were representatives of Europe and Asia and Africa and the United States on the commission,' said Ward Fitzgerald, president of the U.S.-based Papal Foundation. It is made up of wealthy American Catholics that since 1990 has provided over $250 million (219 million euros) in grants and scholarships to the pope's global charitable initiatives. 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Residents and fellow priests say he consistently rallied funds, food and other life-saving goods for the neediest — experience that suggests he knows well how to raise money when times are tight and how to spend wisely. He bolstered the local Caritas charity in Chiclayo, with parishes creating food banks that worked with local businesses to distribute donated food, said the Rev. Fidel Purisaca Vigil, a diocesan spokesperson. In 2019, Prevost inaugurated a shelter on the outskirts of Chiclayo, Villa San Vicente de Paul, to house desperate Venezuelan migrants who had fled their country's economic crisis. The migrants remember him still, not only for helping give them and their children shelter, but for bringing live chickens obtained from a donor. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Prevost launched a campaign to raise funds to build two oxygen plants to provide hard-hit residents with life-saving oxygen. In 2023, when massive rains flooded the region, he personally brought food to the flood-struck zone. Advertisement Within hours of his May 8 election, videos went viral on social media of Prevost, wearing rubber boots and standing in a flooded street, pitching a solidarity campaign, 'Peru Give a Hand,' to raise money for flood victims. The Rev. Jorge Millán, who lived with Prevost and eight other priests for nearly a decade in Chiclayo, said he had a 'mathematical' mentality and knew how to get the job done. Prevost would always be on the lookout for used cars to buy for use around the diocese, Millán said, noting that the bishop often had to drive long distances to reach all of his flock or get to Lima, the capital. Prevost liked to fix them up himself, and if he didn't know what to do, 'he'd look up solutions on YouTube and very often he'd find them,' Millán told The Associated Press. Before going to Peru, Prevost served two terms as prior general, or superior, of the global Augustinian order. While the order's local provinces are financially independent, Prevost was responsible for reviewing their balance sheets and oversaw the budgeting and investment strategy of the order's headquarters in Rome, said the Rev. Franz Klein, the order's Rome-based economist who worked with Prevost. The Augustinian campus sits on prime real estate just outside St. Peter's Square and supplements revenue by renting out its picturesque terrace to media organizations (including the AP) for major Vatican events, including the conclave that elected Leo pope. But even Prevost saw the need for better fundraising, especially to help out poorer provinces. Toward the end of his 12-year term and with his support, a committee proposed creation of a foundation, Augustinians in the World. At the end of 2023, it had 994,000 euros ($1.13 million) in assets and was helping fund self-sustaining projects across Africa, including a center to rehabilitate former child soldiers in Congo. Advertisement 'He has a very good interest and also a very good feeling for numbers,' Klein said. 'I have no worry about the finances of the Vatican in these years because he is very, very clever.'
