Car rushes Vatican gate, is fired on by gendarmes; driver apprehended
Vatican CityAP A car driven by someone with apparent psychiatric problems rushed through a Vatican gate Thursday evening and sped past Swiss Guards into a palace courtyard before the driver was apprehended by police, the Holy See said. Vatican gendarmes fired a shot at the speeding car’s front tires after it rushed the gate, but […]
Vatican Swiss Guard slayings back in spotlight with new book
Rome, ItalyAP The mother of a Swiss Guard member accused of committing one of the most sensational crimes in recent Vatican history – fatally shooting his commander and the senior officer’s wife before killing himself – is turning to the United Nations and Pope Francis in hopes of getting some closure nearly a quarter-century after […]
Wanted: 25 men to guard the Pope. Must be Catholic. Must be Swiss
Vatican CityReuters The world’s smallest army, in the world’s smallest state, is growing and looking for a few good men. The Swiss Guard, the elite and colourfully dressed force whose main mission is to protect the Pope and the 44 hectare Vatican City, currently stands at 110 members. A Swiss Guard stands during a mass […]
Three Swiss Guards who refused vaccination return to Switzerland
Vatican CityAP Three Vatican Swiss Guards who have refused to be vaccinated against COVID-19 upon Holy See orders have voluntarily left the storied corps to return to Switzerland, a Swiss Guard official said Sunday. Lt Urs Breitenmoser told The Associated Press that all Swiss Guards had been asked to be vaccinated “to protect their health […]
Switzerland to set up a dedicated embassy to the Vatican
Geneva, SwitzerlandAP 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 […]
Vatican number two intervenes to shed light on Swiss Guard deaths
Rome, ItalyAP The Vatican Secretary of State has intervened personally to shed light on one of the most sensational Vatican scandals of recent times: The 1998 murder of the Swiss Guard commander and his wife, purportedly by a disgruntled younger Swiss Guardsman who then took his own life. Cardinal Pietro Parolin asked the Vatican City […]