From October 2 to 4, we had the honor of attending the swearing-in ceremony of the Swiss Guards, a ceremony attended in person by Pope Leo XIV. We took this opportunity to reflect on the development of a project to pool positions within the Guard, with a view to modernizing and optimizing its organization.
We wish to reiterate our deep attachment to the service of these men, whose dedication to the Holy See has remained exemplary since the creation of the Swiss Guard on January 22, 1506. We remember in particular their heroic sacrifice on May 6, 1527, when 147 of the Pope's soldiers fell in battle protecting Clement VII and the papal apartments in the Vatican during the sack of Rome by the mutinous troops of Charles V.