Pope addresses Swiss Guards, their families, friends

(May 06, 2011) Recalling the Swiss Guards who died defending the Pope over 480 years ago during the Sack of Rome, Pope Benedict XVI on Friday warned there exists an even more dangerous ‘sack’ today that stifles spiritual life. The Pope made the observation while addressing families and friends of 34 new recruits who were sworn in as members of the Pontifical Swiss Guard later on Friday. New recruits are inducted into the corps every year on May 6, in commemoration of the day in 1527, when 147 members of the corps lost their lives protecting Pope Clement VII from the troops of Emperor Charles V during the “Sack of Rome.” “The memory of that earthly plunder should make us think that there is also the threat of a more dangerous sack – which we can define as spiritual,” the Pope said. “In today’s social context, many young people, in fact, risk falling into a progressive impoverishment of the soul because they pursue superficial ideals and perspectives of live that satisfy only material needs and urgencies. Seeing many families and friends of the Swiss Guards the Pope said it proof that not only are many Swiss Catholics linked to the Holy See but it also shows how the Christian faith and the sense of selfless service is handed down by parents to children through their teaching, moral education and good example. The Pope urged the new recruits who took their oath later on Friday, to contemplate the shining face of the Risen Christ who he said, calls them to be authentic men and true Christians… The Pontifical Swiss Guard, the oldest and smallest army in the world, was born 505 years ago on Jan. 22, 1506 when the first contingent of 150 Swiss mercenaries arrived in Rome to be the Pope’s guards.