34 New Swiss Guard Recruits Pledge Loyalty to Pope Francis

Storyful

7 May 2024 at 11:35 am

Thirty-four new recruits to the Swiss Guard, Vatican City’s standing army, pledged their loyalty to Pope Francis in a traditional swearing-in ceremony on Monday, May 6.

Footage shared by the Slovak Embassy to the Holy See and the Sovereign Military Order of Malta on Monday shows the new guards parading in formation across the St Damasus Courtyard, accompanied by marching band musicians.

The date of the annual induction ceremony commemorates the “heroic sacrifice of 147 Swiss Guards who died while defending Pope Clement VII during the sack of Rome in 1527,” the embassy detailed in a follow-up post on X.

Though the guards carry pikes and swords for ceremonies, they are also trained by the Swiss armed forces in the use of modern weaponry and defense techniques, according to rome.us. Credit: Slovak Embassy to Holy See and SMOM via Storyful

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