SUBSCRIBE NOW

SIGHT

Be informed. Be challenged. Be inspired.

Switzerland to set up a dedicated embassy to the Vatican

Geneva, Switzerland
AP

The Swiss Government decided Friday to set up a dedicated embassy to the Vatican, for which Switzerland’s ambassador to Slovenia is currently responsible.

Switzerland’s governing Federal Council determined the current arrangement “no longer allows all the work entailed by Switzerland’s diplomatic relations with the Holy See to be accomplished efficiently”, a government statement said. It pointed to a sharp rise in high-level official visits in recent years.

Vatican Swiss Guard

In this Thursday, 6th May file photo, Vatican Swiss Guards stand attention at the St Damaso courtyard on the occasion of their swearing-in ceremony, at the Vatican. PICTURE: AP Photo/Andrew Medichini/File photo.

Switzerland has been diplomatically represented at the Vatican since 1991, though the post of ambassador was held by diplomats based in Bern, Geneva, Prague and since 2014, Ljubljana, Slovenia. The new embassy will also manage relations with Malta and San Marino. 

Although Switzerland’s diplomatic presence so far has been limited, the country is central to a Vatican institution – the Swiss Guards. Members of the world’s oldest standing army provide ceremonial guard duty during papal Masses, stand watch at the Vatican gates and help protect Pope Francis.

The guards are all single Swiss men under age 30 and must be upstanding Catholics. They sign up for two-year tours of duty and live communally inside the Vatican.

 

Donate



sight plus logo

Sight+ is a new benefits program we’ve launched to reward people who have supported us with annual donations of $26 or more. To find out more about Sight+ and how you can support the work of Sight, head to our Sight+ page.

Musings

TAKE PART IN THE SIGHT READER SURVEY!

We’re interested to find out more about you, our readers, as we improve and expand our coverage and so we’re asking all of our readers to take this survey (it’ll only take a couple of minutes).

To take part in the survey, simply follow this link…

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

For security, use of Google's reCAPTCHA service is required which is subject to the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.