Under the direction of Romain Lizé, President, Magnificat Editor, Magnificat: Isabelle Galmiche Editors, Ignatius: Vivian Dudro, Thomas Jacobi Translator: Magnificat . Ignatius Proofreader: Kathleen Hollenbeck Layout: Gauthier Delauné Production: Thierry Dubus, Audrey Bord Original French edition: Les guardiens du pape © Groupe Elidia, Paris, 2019. © 2024 by Magnificat, New York • Ignatius Press, San Francisco All rights reserved ISBN Magnificat 978-1-63967-071-0 • ISBN Ignatius Press 978-1-62164-718-8 Laurent Bidot & Arnaud Delalande: Thank you to Yvon Bertorello for initiating this project and for opening the doors of the Vatican for us. And thank you to all the Swiss Guard, officers, lesser officers, and halberdiers for their warm welcome and their enthusiasm in sharing their world. Yvon Bertorello: Thank you to my dear parents, Georges and Hélène Bertorello, who live in the light; to Alessandro Bergamin, Michael Lahut, Bernard Moret, and so many others; not to mention my co-authors: Laurent Bidot, for his artistic talent, and Arnaud Delalande, for his friendship and his great writing skills. I would also like to express my gratitude to all those who, over the years, taught me to love this unique site of Christianity, especially the late Eminence Cardinal Silvio Oddi and Monsignor Camille Perl. Finally, I would like to pay filial respects to His Holiness, the late Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, and to His Holiness Pope Francis, gloriously reigning. All: Our gratitude to the Vatican authorities and in particular to Colonel Christoph Graf, commander of the Pontifical Swiss Guard; to Captain Cyril Duruz, and to Sergeant-Major Guillaume Favre, who guided us during our stays in the Vatican; to Captain Christian Kuhne, who agreed to take on the ongoing project, and to Father Thomas Widmer, chaplain. Finally, as authors, we would like this work to be a tribute to the Swiss Guard, who for centuries have devoted themselves to the protection of the pope—some with their blood. Acriter et fideliter!
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