Roman Catholique Military Ordinariate
-Canada-
Ordinariate militaire catholique romain
Commandant – Christoph Graf (Since 2015)
Vice Commandant – Philippe Morard
Chaplain – P. Thomas Widmer
Major – Martin Kurmann
Captain I – Christian Kühne
Captain II – Lorenz Keusch
Sergeant-major – Guillaume Favre
Brief History
(KGB Kitten)
Children get ready to become young Swiss Guard
(Rome Reports 2011)
History of the Swiss Guard
The Last Stand
(with Animation)
(History with Hilbert)
One of the most famous last stands in history has got to be that of the 189 Swiss Guards, 147 of whom fought to the death on the steps of Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome when the mutinous imperial troops of Duke Charles of Bourbon sacked the city on the 26th of May 1527, giving their lives in service to the Pope so that he could flee to the safety of the Castel Sant Angelo being accompanied by the surviving 42 guardsmen.
L'Esercito più' piccolo
del mondo (Gianfranco Pannone)Vatican Film sheds lights on the GSP
(Rome Reports)Vatican News for the Lisbon Film FestivalTrailer for the Film
Interview with Gianfranco (Italian only)
(TV2000it)
Chorus
...For the grace, for the might of our lord
For the home of the holy
For the faith, for the way of the sword
Gave their lives so boldly
For the grace, for the might of our lord
In the name of his glory
For the faith, for the way of the sword
Come and tell their story again...
Band: Sabaton (Sweden)
Songwriters: Joakim Broden, Paer Sundstroem, Christoffer Roerland
Note: Most of their songs are written about historical events such as war or heroism.
***
What is a sabaton? c.1550
(Right Foot/Germany)
Recruitment Info
(What is a Swiss Guard?)
La garde suisse
(vidéo de recruitement)
Who are the Swiss Guards (SwissInfo)
Testimony of Vice Corporal Didier Granjean
(Rome Reports) Swearing Ceremony
(Rome Reports)
This History of the Modern Uniforms of the GSP
(Uniform History) Documentary: The Vatican's Swiss Guard
(EWTN & Gainmelk) The Combat Rosary for the Guards
(CTV & Joe Hanneman) A Conversation with former JPII Swiss Guard Andreas Widmer
(Salt&Light TV)
The Wives of the Swiss Guards (Rome Reports)Note: Swiss Guards are now allowed to marry after five years of service (new rules under Pope Francis). The normal engagement for a guard is twenty-four months.
La garde suisse
(KTO)
Pourquoi la garde suisse
(KTO)
Documentaire - Au service de sa papauté
(RTSinfo)
For the past 200 years the Schmidberger blacksmith's family in Molln, Austria have been producing handcrafted armour. Their clients include the Vatican, which has ordered 80 piece of armour for its Swiss Guard.
Article with Photos
(SwissInfo)