Vatican City, May 7, 2010 / 15:20 pm
Meeting with new members of the Swiss Guard on Friday, the Holy Father invited them to meditate on the actions of St. Peter after the Resurrection to find the meaning of their work. For all people, he said, working in Jesus’ name “transforms us and makes us a little more like the new man regenerated in Christ.”
After attending Mass at St. Peter’s with Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone on Thursday morning and taking their solemn oath to serve God and protect the Pope that evening, the 30 new Swiss Guards and their parents met with Pope Benedict XVI on Friday. The audience was held within the frescoed walls and ceiling of the Clementine Hall, and the Pope spoke to the group in each of their three representative languages: German, French and Italian.
Starting in his own native language, the Holy Father recalled the history of the corps and the significance of the newly sworn-in guards as its “visible guardians.” He asked them to carry on the tradition of service to the Pontiff with “generous commitment” and hoped that in their work they “may mature as individuals and as Christians.”
Continuing in French, the Pope recalled the indirect, “but real,” association of the Pontifical Swiss Guard to St. Peter’s service to the Church. He asked them to meditate on the passage in the Acts of the Apostles when Peter manifests his “solicitude,” or concern, for the faithful in visiting them after the Resurrection.