1st in 500 years: Vatican Swiss Guard swears in recruit with Filipino blood

For the first time, a Swiss with Filipino parentage was sworn in as member of the Swiss Guard, the elite corps of soldiers who protect the pope.

An article in Catholic Church-run CBCP News said that new recruit Swiss-Filipino Vincent Lüthi, 22,  took oath of allegiance to Pope Francis in the Vatican on October 4, 2020 among 38 others.

Also, the article said that Vincent grew up in Cugy, Switzerland and the only child of a Swiss father and a Filipino mother from Santa Fe town on Bantayan Island in Cebu province.

Vatican Media photo

According to tradition, members of the Swiss Guard must be Swiss, Catholic and top-notch soldiers. They are also famous for their antique blue, red and yellow striped uniforms.

Established over 500 years ago (1506), the Pontifical Swiss Guard is a minor armed forces and honor guards unit maintained by the Holy See that protects the Pope and the Apostolic Palace, serving as the de facto military of Vatican City.

The CBCP News article said that Pope Francis met with the guards and their parents before the Sunday ceremony and thanked them for choosing to dedicate “a period of their youth in the service of the Successor of Peter”.

It quoted the Pope in his October 2, 2020 (Friday) audience as saying to recruits:  “The time you will spend here is a unique moment in your life. May you live it in a spirit of fraternity, helping one another to lead a meaningful and joyfully Christian life.”

He also stressed the crucial role of the family in the transmission of faith.

“The presence of your family members expresses the devotion of Swiss Catholics to the Holy See, as well as the moral education and good example by which parents have passed on to their children the Christian faith and the sense of generous service to their neighbor,” the pope said. —LBG, GMA News