The Swiss Guard and Vocations: Part I

The information in this post (and Part II to follow) appeared in an aricle by Andrea Aambragetti in Inside the Vatican magazine ((December 2008)

The Pontifical Swiss Guard corps was 504 years old this year. New recruits are sworn in each year at a ceremony which takes place on May 6, commemorating the date in 1527, when twenty-one years after the foundation of the Guard, 147 Swiss soldiers died defending the Pope during an attack on Rome. Today the Corps numbers 100 young Swiss men , who are all Catholics, have done their military service and have no troubles with the law'.

'THERE ARE NOT MANY, JUST ONE OR TWO EACH YEAR, BUT THANKS TO THEM, THE PONTIFICAL SWISS GUARD HAS THE HIGHEST PERCENTAGE OF VOCATIONS OF ANY GROUP IN ALL OF SWITZERLAND.' (my caps.)

In 2008 one of them was studying Theology at the Austrian Monastery of Heiligenkreutz, and when the Holy father visited the monastery in 2007, the young guard was allowed to wear his uniform outside the Vatican. When on duty in Rome he 'serves as a deacon in important celebrations in the Pontifical Parish of Sant'Anna in the Vatican'.

'The Pope himself, during the celebration of the Guard's fifth centenary, said that service in the Swiss Guard may be a chance for greater commitment to the Church for these young men.

The ITV article is based around an interview with the chaplain of the Guard, Alain de Raemy (more of whose background and ministry in Part II). But beyond the few guards who aspire to the priesthood or consecrated life, Fr. de Raemy speaks powerfully of the value of service in the Swiss Guard, particularly since often young Swiss people see only a negative image of the life of the Church: 'Here, we have a unique opportuniy to see the vitality of the Universal Church. Some say they are surprised to see so many people, and especially young people, at the Pope's audiences..............One of them who recently went back to Switzerland after three years, told me that he now has new inner strength to answer when people criticize the pope or the Vatican. He says he is now able to answer with courage and conviction.'

Fr. de Raemy sees the three year stint of Swiss Guard service as a vocation in itself and preached as follows during the 2007 ceremony for the oath of new recruits: 'To sacrifice your life does not only mean to die, but also to offer your time and energy day after day for the Vicar of Christ, for the Church: this is a true vocation!'

In Part II more about Fr de Raemy as promised, about religious vocations amongst the Guard and some interesting facts about Swiss Catholicism.