Vatican army does double duty as band
On the day they’re sworn in at the Vatican, new recruits to the Swiss Guard are asked to promise that they would die for the Pope. What they’re not required to do is pledge to play music for him. “That comes later,” explains Franz Hurlimann, “but it’s very important, all the same.”
Hurlimann, 24, joined the Swiss Guard two years ago, and as well as being part of a guard of honour whenever the Pope is in St. Peter’s Square, he plays the saxophone in the Pontiff’s band.
The Swiss Guard band has provided the musical backdrop for thousands of Vatican occasions through the years and now, for the first time, they’ve released an album of their Christmas music.
“Each year, a life-size nativity is erected in St. Peter’s Square, and on the day the Pope comes out of the basilica to pray there, we provide the music,” Hurlimann says.
“It’s a very moving occasion, because the Pope is paying homage at the scene of Christ’s birth — and after a period of silence, the Swiss Guard band strikes up with some festive tunes.”
Proceeds from sales of the band’s new album will benefit two charities, one helping drug addicts in Switzerland, the other doing development work in Zimbabwe.
It’s hoped, too, that the CD will help shine the spotlight on the lives of the young men who make up the Swiss Guard.
“We’re instantly recognizable across the world in our yellow, blue and red uniforms,” Hurlimann says. “But few people know what the life of a Swiss Guard is really like.”
There are currently 110 men in the Swiss Guard (no women, although there have been hints they might one day be admitted). It is the oldest standing army in the world, with a history stretching back even earlier than 1506, when it was formally established by Pope Julius II.
For many years before that, Swiss mercenaries had been chosen to guard the popes. They were preferred, Hurlimann explains, because of their bravery and — through years of constant warfare between rival religious factions — their neutrality.
The soldiers live in a barracks inside Vatican City.
The history of the Swiss Guard is certainly bloodsplattered: inside their private chapel is a memorial to the 147 corps members who died during the Sack of Rome in 1527 (the surviving members saved the life of Pope Clement VII).
But these days, life for a Swiss Guard tends to be a lot quieter. Most Swiss Guards serve two years in Rome, but a handful make a career of it — they’re allowed to marry and have families. “Only four or five families live inside the Vatican City, so it’s a very unusual way of life,” says Sgt. Tiziano Guarneri, 38, a Guard for 18 years and a father of three children.