Swiss Guards of the Vatican

FilamCoins · May 4, 2006 7:19PM

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - About 70 former Swiss Guards, the oldest a 76-year-old, ended an almost month-long trek to the Vatican from Switzerland on Thursday that retraced the steps of the first papal protectors 500 years ago.

Pope Benedict praised the troops of the world's smallest army for offering their lives to defend the Vatican City, the world's smallest state. Today's Guards number about 110.

"With valiant generosity (the Guards) have defended the Sovereign Pontiff to the death, writing an important page in Church's history with their sacrifice," the Pope told the men from his Vatican window.

With their medieval weapons, ceremonial armor and flamboyant Renaissance-style blue, gold and red striped uniforms, the Guards seem to jump from a page in history and have also become a tourist attraction.

Greying veterans joined active troops at the ceremony to mark the end of the 720 km (450 mile) trek from the Swiss town of Bellinzona to St. Peter's Square.

On Saturday, the Pope will celebrate a mass remembering the 147 Guards killed in the May 6, 1527 sacking of Rome. The surviving members saved the life of Pope Clement VII.

The mass will be followed by a swearing-in ceremony for new Guards, all Roman Catholics who come from the Swiss Army. They have to be at least 5 ft 9 ins to apply.

"WARRIOR POPE"

Pope Julius II, widely known as "The Warrior Pope," first sent for Swiss troops in the 16th century after striking an agreement with Swiss cantons for a permanent army.

Many of the Guards still carry the unit's trademark weapon -- a halberd, which is a combination of spear and battle axe.

"The Swiss Guard ... has become a testament to an era," said the unit's commander Elmar Mader, a white feather topping off his helmet.

The former Guards on the trek across the Alps and down the boot of Italy were accompanied by three doctors.

The doctors said some of the veterans caught colds and suffered from some muscular problems but never gave up.

"After 28 days on foot it's nice to be in Rome," said Hans Osterwalder, a 49-year-old who served in the Guard until 1980.

One veteran, Antonio Zeiter, wrote a song for the troops to help pass the time.

They sang it on arriving in St. Peter's Square: "We're the Pope's soldiers and to Rome we were sent. Goodbye, my fatherland. Fatherland, goodbye."

Besides the sacking of Rome, the Guards were also involved in minor skirmishes in 1870 when the Church lost the Papal States in the Unification of Italy.

The darkest night in their history occurred in 1998 when the Vatican said young guard Cedric Tornay shot dead commandant Alois Estermann and his wife and then shot himself.

The Vatican said Tornay had acted in a "fit of insanity" because he was passed over for promotion but his family has contested some aspects of its version of events.