Vatican City, Jan 23, 2011 / 11:54 am
On Jan. 22 at the Vatican, the Swiss Guard commemorated more than five centuries of being the Pope's sworn protectors. Corporal Urs Breitenmoser of the Swiss Guard called the celebration a “historic moment of maximum importance for us” in remarks to CNA about the event.
In 1506, on the same day of the year, 150 Swiss soldiers first entered the Vatican by request of then-Pope Julius II to form the Pontifical Swiss Guard. The group has remained present to this day and is now the oldest standing army in the world.
The 505th anniversary of the Pontifical Swiss Guard was marked on Saturday evening with a solemn Mass followed by a once-a-year procession across St. Peter's Square and a banquet in their Vatican quarters.
It was an intimate affair, with few outsiders joining the representation of around 40 guards at Mass within the Vatican walls in the chapel of the Teutonic College. The strong voices of a handful of guards filled the small church of Santa Maria della Pieta in Campo Santo with chant.