Vatican Marks 500th Anniversary of (Swiss) Guards (event pictures)

Yahoo News ^ | January 21, 2006 | Nicole Winfield

[NYer]

Five hundreds years ago, mercenaries marched from Switzerland to Rome to aid Pope Julius II, and the Vatican is readying concerts, exhibits and celebrations to mark the half millennium of the Swiss Guards, who still protect the pontiff.

The Vatican No. 2, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, will celebrate Mass Sunday in the frescoed Sistine Chapel for current guards and their families, and afterward Pope Benedict XVI will offer a special blessing to an honor corps in St. Peter's Square.

It is the launch of six months of commemorations in Italy and Switzerland that will culminate with a symbolic re-enactment of the march from Switzerland to Rome of the first 150 Swiss mercenaries to fight Pope Julius II's temporal battles in 1506.

The Swiss Guard commander, Col. Elmar Maeder, said this week that the work of the guards had changed over the past half-millennium, although their core mission to protect the pope remains.

"We swear to serve the pope, and if needed, to give even our lives to defend him," Maeder told AP Television News. "And we are very well prepared to (do) that, spiritually also prepared."

But he acknowledged that no one could guarantee the pope's security — as shown by the 1981 assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II by Turkish gunman Mehmet Ali Agca in St. Peter's Square.

Images of the attempt "remind me of my responsibility, but on the other hand I'm also convinced that it's not possible for anybody to guarantee 100 percent security. That would mean that the pope could no longer be pope, that he could not shake hands with the people, meet the pilgrims coming to him," Maeder said.

While that mission remains, the current corps have "new technology, and we are probably no more those mercenaries as the Swiss were 500 years ago."

The guards — outfitted in their trademark halberds, crimson-plumed helmets and gold and blue uniforms — provide ceremonial guard duty, assist at Vatican functions and help protect the pope. Some are armed with guns.

Last year, they had a special duty: stand guard outside the Sistine Chapel when cardinals elected former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger pope.

"I was right outside the Sistine Chapel," Maeder recalled. "I was probably the first civilian to congratulate him."

After Sunday, the key dates in the upcoming celebrations include the 450-mile march by former guardsmen from the Swiss town of Bellinzona to Rome, starting April 7 and finishing in Rome on May 4.

A ceremony also will be held to mark the Sack of Rome in 1527, during which almost all the guards were massacred on the steps of St. Peter's while trying to protect Pope Clement VII from the troops of Emperor Charles V.

The ceremonies officially end May 6, when the latest cadets are sworn in and take the oath to protect the pope.

Each recruit must have completed mandatory Swiss military service, be a Catholic between the ages of 19 and 30, have an impeccable reputation and agree to sign up for at least two years.

[NYer]

Reuters - Sun Jan 22, 8:08 AM ET

Swiss Guards attend a special mass in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican January 22, 2006. Months of celebrations marking the 500th anniversary of the elite corps, which is charged with the protection of the Pope and Vatican, will begin on Sunday. REUTERS/Maurizio Brambatti/Pool

AP - Sun Jan 22, 8:07 AM ET

A Swiss Guard, part of an honor corps in their full blue- and-yellow bloomered dress uniforms and red-plumed helmets, stands at attention in front of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican as Pope Benedict XVI, not seen, addresses them at the end of the Angelus noon prayer he celebrated from his studio window, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2006. The pontiff thanked the Swiss Guards for their 500 years of service protecting popes as the Vatican opened its official commemorations, and recalled how Pope Julius II had summoned the mercenaries to protect him and the Vatican in 1506. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini) .

Reuters - Sun Jan 22, 8:19 AM ET

A former officer of the Swiss Guards salutes during a mass in honour of the Guards' 500th anniversary at St. Nicolas cathedral in Fribourg, Switzerland, January 22, 2006. Months of celebrations marking the anniversary of the elite corps, which is charged with the protection of the Pope an Vatican, began on Sunday. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth

[RichInOC]

Benny Hill lives!

[NYer]

Reuters - Sun Jan 22, 8:07 AM ET Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Angelo Sodano leads a special mass for Swiss Guards in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican January 22, 2006. Months of celebrations marking the 500th anniversary of the elite corps, which is charged with the protection of the Pope and Vatican, will begin on Sunday. REUTERS/Maurizio Brambatti/Pool

Catholic Ping - Please freepmail me if you want on/off this list

[NYer]

Reuters - Sun Jan 22, 7:58 AM ET Swiss Guards leave the Sistine Chapel after a special mass in the Vatican January 22, 2006. Months of celebrations marking the 500th anniversary of the elite corps, which is charged with the protection of the Pope and Vatican, will begin on Sunday. REUTERS/Maurizio Brambatti/Pool

Reuters - Sun Jan 22, 8:36 AM ET A former Swiss Guard shoulders a sword during a march through town after mass in honour of the Guards' 500th anniversary at St. Nicolas cathedral in Fribourg, Switzerland, January 22, 2006. Months of celebrations marking the anniversary of the elite corps, which is charged with the protection of the Pope an Vatican, began on Sunday. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth

[seppel]

nice story thanks.

[Doogle]

that it is, very interesting.

[GOP_Party_Animal]

Benny Hill lives!

LOL

[sine_nomine]

That was my first response, too. I just watched his show again and enjoyed his nonsense.

[Victoria Delsoul]

Bumpity bump.

[Cacique]

And now for something different ping

[ccmay]

Some are armed with guns.

Damn right they are, all of them. MP-5's I think. The pikes are just for show.

They sometimes train with our military and security agencies.

-ccm