From ISIS to drones, Swiss Guard adapt to current threats

Are the Swiss Guard able to defend the Pope? Their commander, Christopher Graf, has stated that this miniscule group of soldiers is ready and sworn to defend the Pope, and are prepared for the possibility of a terrorist attack. 

Swiss Guards have protected the popes since 1506, and they are aware that they always have new challenges to face. ISIS has already threatened to launch an act of terrorism against the Vatican, and perhaps it is only question of time before it happens. 

The commander’s remarks accompanied the release of a new video showing ISIS fighters ripping up photographs of Pope Francis. Vatican secretary of state Cardinal Pietro Parolin told reporters that he has seen the ISIS video and that “one cannot help but be concerned, especially for the senseless hatred it represented,” but added that he did not believe the video warranted extra security measures beyond those that have been in place for some time.

During the Year of Mercy, the main road leading to St. Peter’s Square was closed to traffic and never reopened. But while pilgrims approaching St. Peter’s Square for Pope Francis’ general audience on Wednesday and his Angelus address on Sundays have long been subjected to security checks, Italian police seem to take more time to do the checks after the terrorist attacks in Barcelona last year.

Given that the total number of Swiss Guards is a little more than 100, it is reassuring to know that they are not left to guard the Vatican alone. The Holy See’s 130-strong police force, the Corps of Gendarmerie, share the responsibility for Vatican security. It has been a while since such an emergency took place. The last major example was on May 13, 1981, the feast of Our Lady of Fatima, when the Turkish hitman Mehmet Ali Agca fired at Pope St. John Paul II, hitting him twice. 

But the nature of papal audiences is such that popes are frequently very close to large crowds of people. In 2006, a mentally ill woman managed to grab hold of Benedict XVI’s vestments and drag him to the floor before the Vatican guards pulled her away. 

The Swiss Guard and the Corps of Gendarmerie have increased defences again in recent years. In 2015, Rome’s police agreed to institute a ban on flying drones in the city. Last year there were two investigations into drone-flying near the Vatican. One drone vanished when police took an interest, but the other was confiscated after it was found to belong to an American tourist. 

But it is not just ISIS that represents a threat. There is also the risk of isolated actions which are more dangerous because they are unpredictable – fanatics, mentally disturbed individuals, mythomaniacs, or just individuals who may decide to do something in the Vatican to attract media attention.

When and how did the Swiss Guard originate? These military guardians were created by Pope Julius II (r.1503-1513) in 1506. Its Italian name is Guardia Svizzera Pontificia. The corps was instituted with the accord of the cantons of Zurich and Lucerne which entered into an agreement to supply 250 guardsmen. Today they are reduced to some 120 men recruited from all the Swiss cantons. The parade uniform of the guards, which was designed by Michelangelo, is composed of a tunic, breeches, and stockings of wide stripes, gaily coloured in red, yellow and dark blue. 

Very few of the visitors to Rome who pose for a photograph in front of the Swiss Guards at the gates of Vatican City are familiar with the history of these troops who take an oath of loyalty to the Pope. To know more, we must go back to the period of the Renaissance and discover the motives which, in 1506, caused the Pope to invite to Rome the Helvetian soldiers renowned for their courage, noble sentiments, and loyalty.

Many centuries earlier, the great Latin historian Tacitus had said “the Helvetians are a people of warriors, famous for the valour of their soldiers,” and the Swiss cantons, as allies first with one side and then with another, played an important role in the history of European politics.

In those times, when to be a mercenary soldier was a commonplace occupation, there lived a people of warriors in the very heart of the Alps. The first Swiss cantons had about 500,000 inhabitants and formed an overpopulated country, where, because of the precarious economic conditions of the times, there was much poverty. There was no choice but to emigrate and one of the most profitable jobs was that of a mercenary soldier abroad.

Jan. 22, 1506, is the official date of birth of the Pontifical Swiss Guards because on that day, toward the evening, a group of 150 Swiss soldiers entered the Vatican for the first time, through the Porta del Popolo, and were blessed by Pope Julius II. From this date, the union of the Swiss Guards and the Holy See was sealed forever. As allies of Pope Julius II in 1512, they helped to shape Italy’s destiny and he granted them the title of “Defenders of the Church’s freedom.”