The head of the Swiss Guard is to leave his post after eight years, amidst speculation that Pope Francis found him too authoritarian and rigid.
Colonel Daniel Rudolf Anrig, 42, initially served a five-year term as commandant of the Pope’s private army, and this has been extended over the last three years. But when his current contract ends on January 31 it will not be renewed. Colonel Anrig is reportedly to be replaced by his deputy, Christoph Graf.
A four-line notice in L’Osservatore Romano, the Holy See’s daily newspaper, read: “The Holy Father has ordered that Colonel Daniel Rudolf Anrig end his term on 31 January, at the conclusion of the extension of his mandate.”
Pope Francis, known for his informal approach, is said to have been unhappy with Colonel Anrig’s style of discipline. According to Il Messagero, a Rome-based daily paper, the Pope would prefer the Swiss Guard to be “less military” and less rigid in its rules. He knows many of his guards by name, and in October he broke protocol by shaking hands with one of them.
There are reports that Pope Francis was angered to emerge from his rooms one morning to find a young guard who had been standing to attention all night outside the door. When Francis told him to sit down, the guard said this was “against orders”. Pope Francis is said to have responded, “I give the orders around here”, and went off to buy the guard a cappuccino.
The Pontifical Swiss Guard was founded in 1506, and is responsible for the personal safety of the Pope and the security of the Vatican. In the past it has been involved in military action; 147 of the 189 Guards died in a battle with the forces of Holy Roman Emperor Charles in 1527 during the Sack of Rome. Today their role is largely ceremonial – they are known for their highly colourful dress uniform – though since the attempted assassination of St John Paul II in 1981 there has been a greater emphasis on personal security.
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