STORY: ARNAUD DELALANDE and YVON BERTORELLO art: LAURENT BIDOT color: CLÉMENCE BIDOT swiss guard the PROTECTORS OF THE POPE
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!
3 TEN MINUTES? ALL RIGHT. VA BENE. Saint Peter’s Square, Rome, Wednesday General Audience
4 THAT’S WHERE THE POPE WILL COME FROM? YES. IF YOU STAY HERE, BEHIND THE SECURITY BARRIERS, YOU WILL SEE HIM. STAY FOCUSED AND MONITOR THE AREA YOU WERE ASSIGNED TO. LISTEN TO ME. WHAT’S MOST IMPORTANT IS TO WATCH. GUARDA, GUARDA, GUARDA. DON’T TURN YOUR HEAD. DON’T GET DISTRACTED. FOCUS. IF SOMEONE GETS A BAD IDEA, LIKE JUMPING OVER THE SECURITY BARRICADES, AND YOU’RE NOT THERE... JUST IMAGINE THE BARRICADES TOPPLING OVER AFTER A CROWD SURGE. THAT WOULD BE CATASTROPHIC—OR WORSE. YOU MUST BE READY TO INTERVENE AT ANY TIME, AT THE SMALLEST MOVE, ESPECIALLY WHEN THE POPE IS PASSING BEHIND YOU, OF COURSE. SO, STAY ALERT.
5 IT IS 9:20 A.M. WE ARE IN POSITION. THE SWISS GUARDS ARE GETTING READY TOO. THIS TICKET IS FOR THE OTHER ENTRANCE, MISS. SIR! NO, THIS WAY, PLEASE! TOWARD PAUL VI HALL. OH, CAN WE TAKE A PICTURE OF YOU? YOU’RE SO CUTE! WHEN THE POPE COMES, YOU WILL LEAVE TOGETHER. YOU WILL GO THROUGH THE DOOR. THERE, YOU WILL WAIT FOR A MOMENT. DON’T STAY TOO CLOSE TO EACH OTHER, OKAY? NOT TOO CLOSE. I WILL GIVE YOU THE SIGNAL. THE REDHEAD THERE, AND THE TWO MEN. DO YOU SEE THEM? ASK SECURITY TO KEEP AN EYE ON THEM. THE REDHEAD. EVERYONE. YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE.
6 ARE YOU READY? THE REDHEAD, THAT’S RIGHT, YES! ... AND THE TWO MEN TOO. AND THE GROUP ON THE RIGHT!
WELL, THE TIME HAS COME! WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT... JUST A YEAR AGO! Switzerland, Canton of Zürich THE POPE IS COMING. HE IS COMING!
8 MARC, HERE YOU ARE! YOUR UNCLE JUST GOT HERE! YOU’LL BE ABLE TO CHAT! NICE! HELLO! SORRY, I NEED TO SHOWER, BUT I’LL BE RIGHT BACK. NO WORRIES. I’M STAYING FOR YOUR MOM’S DELICIOUS DINNER. I’LL BE HERE!
9 SO, YOUR MOTHER TOLD ME YOU WANT TO JOIN THE SWISS GUARD? WHERE’D YOU GET SUCH A CRAZY IDEA? I DON’T KNOW. I SAW A DOCUMENTARY, AND MOM TOLD ME... ... THAT I’M FRIENDS WITH THE CURRENT COMMANDER OF THE GUARD. THAT’S TRUE. WE WENT TO COLLEGE TOGETHER! I THINK YOUR FATHER WOULD HAVE LIKED THIS. MAY HE REST IN PEACE. I DID SOME RESEARCH FOR YOU. FROM WHAT I UNDERSTAND, TO BECOME A SWISS GUARD, YOU NEED TO MEET SOME SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS. YOU MUST BE A SWISS CITIZEN. HISTORICALLY, IF I HAVE IT RIGHT, THE GUARDS WERE FROM ZURICH, LUCERNE, AND CENTRAL SWITZERLAND. YOU MUST BELONG TO THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. YOU STILL GO TO CHURCH WITH YOUR MOM, RIGHT? OH, HE’S FINE ON THE CHURCH! I’M THE ONE HE NEGLECTS. MOM, PLEASE! SO FAR, I CAN CHECK ALL THE BOXES. OF COURSE, YOUR REPUTATION MUST BE IRREPROACHABLE. WE’LL ASK YOUR PARISH PRIEST TO CONFIRM IN WRITING THAT YOU ARE A GOOD PERSON! OH, THAT’S WHERE IT GOES WRONG. YOU MUST HAVE COMPLETED SOME WORK TRAINING OR OBTAINED SOME KIND OF DIPLOMA—ANY KIND OF CERTIFICATION ACTUALLY. AND BE BETWEEN NINETEEN AND THIRTY YEARS OLD. I AM GOOD FOR ALL OF THOSE. AND IF YOU WOULD LEAVE ME SOME CHEESE, THAT WOULD BE GREAT! YOU MUST ALSO HAVE COMPLETED YOUR MILITARY SERVICE. YOU FINISHED IT LAST YEAR, RIGHT? AND BE SINGLE. AH! CLOSE CALL.
10 WHAT, THE MILITARY SERVICE? BEING SINGLE. BUT YES. RIGHT. WHAT WAS HER NAME AGAIN? GUDRUN? GU... MOM, PLEASE. YOU UNDERSTAND NOW WHY I WANT TO LEAVE? UNWORTHY SON! BUT ROME WOULD BE GOOD FOR YOU. ONE MORE THING. YOU MUST BE AT LEAST FIVE FEET, SEVEN INCHES TALL. NO PROBLEM. I AM EXACTLY FIVE FOOT EIGHT— BAREFOOT. GOOD. LISTEN, IF YOU WANT, I CAN ARRANGE A MEETING WITH A SERGEANT INSTRUCTOR OF THE GUARD. THE COMMANDER TOLD ME THAT HE HAS FAMILY CLOSE BY, AND HE IS VISITING THEM. HE WILL HAVE MORE TO SHARE WITH YOU. WHAT DO YOU THINK? YES. YOU KNOW, IF YOU LOVE ADVENTURE AND IF YOU MEET THE REQUIREMENTS, APPLY. YOU WILL HAVE INTERVIEWS HERE IN SWITZERLAND. THOSE WILL TAKE ABOUT FIVE HOURS. DO YOU SPEAK SEVERAL LANGUAGES? UH, YES, FRENCH AND GERMAN, OF COURSE. SOME ENGLISH, AND A BIT OF SPANISH. THAT’S A PLUS. GERMAN IS THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGE OF THE GUARD. OF COURSE, IF YOU COME TO THE VATICAN, YOU WILL LEARN ITALIAN. REGARDING OUR LEGAL STATUS, AS STRANGE AS IT IS, THE GUARD, ALTHOUGH THE ULTIMATE WITNESS OF A LONG TRADITION OF SWISS MERCENARY WORK, IS NOT CONSIDERED AN ARMY IN SWITZERLAND. THE 1848 CONSTITUTION FORBIDS IT. BY LAW, IT IS A PRIVATE SECURITY SERVICE. ARE YOU REALLY A SERGEANT INSTRUCTOR?
11 WE ALSO HAVE A LONG HISTORY. AS YOU KNOW, THE SWISS GUARD, COHORS HELVETICA PONTIFICA IN LATIN, IS A SMALL MILITARY FORCE IN CHARGE OF ENSURING THE SAFETY OF THE POPE AND HIS RESIDENCE. SWISS MERCENARIES HAVE SERVED AS CLOSE SECURITY GUARDS IN SOME EUROPEAN COURTS SINCE THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY, BUT OURS IS THE LAST ONE TO EXIST! OTHER PONTIFICAL ARMED BODIES EXISTED, LIKE THE CORSICAN GUARD, WHICH WAS DISSOLVED IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. OTHER ONES—THE NOBLE GUARD AND THE PALATINE GUARD—WERE DISSOLVED BY PAUL VI IN 1970. BUT FOR US, IT ALL STARTED IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. Next to speak will be Peter Von Hertenstein, the archdeacon of the cathedral. Yes, and I carry the message of a voice much stronger and more powerful than mine. The Federal Diet of Switzerland, June 21, 1505
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