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When I was a boy, I always wanted to be a Swiss Guard. Then I learned one had to actually be a Swiss. Sniff…
Perfect marching steps, wow. The shot from above is great.
Number three in the series will be out in March, stay tuned.
That is a great recruiting advertisement! Wish I were young, Swiss … spoke German … unmarried …. and was at least 175cm tall!
–Guy
Thanks, Father!
Two things: maybe it’s time to consider opening up the Guard to international candidates, per the model of the French Foreign Legion.
Second: I hope these guys are seriously prepared and heavily armed. I’ve always perceived the Vatican as a soft target, which a small group of jihadis could breach and cause major havoc before being neutralized. I hope the Guard is well prepared for such a small, heavily armed assault force striking through a less-prominent entry point than the four major ones. I imagine the Guard has such a counter strike force always at the ready, and hope they’re not relying on the Italian authorities to bail them out of any serious trouble.
I had the beginning of a novel in which after a highly successful terrorist attack on Vatican City, Switzerland refuses to allow citizens to serve “foreign powers” without losing citizenship. The result is the creation of a new corps comprised of former Swiss Guards and retired Marines, Rangers, SEALs, perhaps SAS, etc.
The Pontifical Swiss Guard is by no means limited to the weaponry visible in this particular video.
by no means limited to the weaponry visible in this particular video.
And notice also that while they do say that the Guard is the smallest army in the world, they don’t specify actual numbers. They take security seriously, they are not merely ceremonial.
I wonder in what language are the commands given?
Beautifully filmed. Can anyone identify the music?
the commands are given in German. I have been told that Paul VI dismantelled all the Guardia nobile and the Guardia palatina but not the Swiss guard because the last one was the only one really thrustworthy. He noticed the behaviour of the three guards during WWII as he worked at the Segreteria di Stato and at the end only one survived in 1970.
Acriter et fideliter (since A. D. 1506)
Way too cool.
The beginning of Virgil’s Aeneid might be in order, though the “coasts of Geneva” rather than “Troy.”
Arma virumque cano…
desertcatholic: YouTube video info says the first piece of music is Mission Discovery by Terry Devine-King.