500th anniversary of Swiss Guard...

[mitsho]

in the Vatican is today. On January, 22th 1506, the famous War-pope Julius II. inaugurated the first Swiss soldiers as the personal guards of the pope. That was not unusual for the time (as the Swiss were great mercenaries), but the guard still exists to this day. It had its greatests moment on May 6th 1527 when most of the guard (around three quarters of the 180 men) died while successfully saving pope Clemens VII. during a sack of Rome. Thus, May 6th is still the day of commemoration and the inauguration of new soldiers. These new soldiers have to be a) Swiss, b) Catholic and c) done successfully their military service.
To this day, the Swiss guard is still "guarding" the pope although with the modern age, many things have changed. Firstly, the guard has now two main tasks: Being tourist attractions in their traditional uniforms:

and acting as bodyguards for the pope. This is getting more and more a problem, as there is also the Italian police and the "normal" vatican security personal. Then, there was the lowest point of the guard just recently in 1998. On May, 4th 1998 (just two days before the Day of commemoration and just ten hours after a new commander had been chosen), a personal drama happened when one Swiss guard killed the commander, his wife and then himself.

Nevertheless, the Guard still exists with around 120 men and got a commemorating stamp for its 500the birthday D).

well, mfG mitsho

 

[Israelite9191]

The Swiss guard should be given more duties and beefed up. From what I understand the Swiss guard has training equal to that of any other security force and shouldn't be mitigated to their position because of their long history. Give them the duties of the Italian police and beef up their numbers, also give them some freekin guns! The Swiss Guard should be used to its full potential as a real security service for the Vatican and the Pope. I mean, they should at least provide the Pope's security when he is traveling!

 

[mitsho]

I got two things to say:
First, I'm sorry, as it is only the 21th of January now, I was wrong. I trusted my computer who seems to be one day in the future... (so, the 500th birthday is really tomorrow).

And Israelite, the Swiss guard already has these obligations. They are a regular security force like any other! They have guns, etc. they are one of the best trained bodyguards of the world (at least since the last attempted attack on the pope in 198something by that Turk), but they do also have the obligations to look good on photos. So, besides the two people you see on the photo, their will be another guy in the background guarding really the thing.
And they are providing safety for the Pope that's why the commander said in an interview a short time ago that he is glad the new pope isn't travelling that much and tends to give his audiences in the audience hall and not somewhere small in the palace like John Paul II. did. (It's just easier this way)

mfG mitsho

 

[Israelite9191]

Actually, I just heard an interview with a commander of the Swiss Guard yesterday afternoon on NPR that said quite the opposite. He stated that the Swiss guards can not carry guns, although they do carry pepper spray, and that in foreign countries it is that country's police force that guards the Pope. And yes, I know they are very well trained, which is why I think they should be given more duties rather than takign second stage to the Italian police. There has actually been quite a bit of talk among the cardinals of reducing the numbers of the Swiss Guard because the Swiss Guard does so little actual gurading while the Italian police do most of it. Sorry Mitsho, but I believe you have been mis-informed.

 

[El_Tigre]

Israelite9191, the Swiss Guards are indeed equipped with modern weapons, but they don't walk around with them:

The Papal Swiss Guard was founded in 1506. It is today largely ceremonial, but like the Guards in London they are a fully operational modern military force. When in ceremonial 16th century uniform, they keep their firearms in guard boxes nearby.

http://www.buschauer.dynip.com/fotw/flags/va-swiss.html

After the May 13, 1981 assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II by Mehmet Ali Ağca, a much stronger emphasis has been made of the Swiss Guards' functional, non-ceremonial roles. This has included extended training in unarmed combat and with issue SIG P 75 pistols and Heckler & Koch submachine-guns.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_Guard

 

[mitsho]

Yeah, whatever. The interesting fact is that there is quite a fight or war going on between the Swiss Guard and the Italian Police on the question who has the right to say how things are going in the Vatican...

m

 

[bhsup]

Yeah, whatever. The interesting fact is that there is quite a fight or war going on between the Swiss Guard and the Italian Police on the question who has the right to say how things are going in the Vatican...

m

That strikes me as a no-brainer. The Vatican is an independent nation, so they could tell the Italians to take a hike if they wanted.

 

[jeriko one]

I heard somewhere that their clothes were designed by Leonardo da Vinci. Is that true?

 

[El_Tigre]

Michelangelo.

And no, it's not true:

http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/swiss_guard/swissguard/divisa_en.htm

Scroll down to "The contemporary uniform".

 

[mrtn]

They should get more cloth in those traditional uniforms, they look too skinny.

 

[Tank_Guy#3]

Do they have modern weapons as well as the infamous Swiss pikes?

 

[silver 2039]

Gah! Read above man.