By Junno Arocho Esteves
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — With their
left hands
clutching a standard and their right hands raised with three fingers open symbolizing the
Holy Trinity, 23 new Swiss Guard recruits pledged to “faithfully, loyally and honorably”
serve and protect the pope and, if necessary, sacrifice their lives for him.
The pageantry
of the annual May 6 ceremony did not lessen the solemnity of the occasion that
marks the date in 1527 when 147 Swiss Guards lost their lives defending Pope
Clement VII in the Sack of Rome.
The
ceremony in the Vatican’s
San Damaso Courtyard is meant to remind new guards of the seriousness of
their commitment on the anniversary of their predecessors’ death.
Father
Thomas Widmer, chaplain of the Swiss Guard, read to the new recruits their oath
to protect the pope and the College
of Cardinals when
the See of St. Peter is vacant.
Following
the proclamation, each of the new recruits swore to “diligently and
faithfully” abide by the oath through the intercession of “God and …
his saints.”
Prior
to the ceremony, the new recruits and their families, friends and fellow guards
attended a morning Mass presided by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of
state.
Cardinal
Parolin told them to
respond to their first calling as baptized Christians: to bring
“the Gospel to men and women and to give witness to the joyful message of
true life.”
The
sacrifice of the brave 147 soldiers who perished in the Sack of Rome, he added,
would not have been possible without “faith in the Lord of life, without
faith in the resurrection.”
“Sustained
by this faith in the risen
Jesus and strengthened by the joyful experience that the Lord gives life in its
fullness, I invite you dear guards, to have the courage to be witnesses in
today’s world despite the difficulties,” the cardinal said.
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