Pope Benedict XVI thanks Swiss Guards for 500 years of service

May 6, 2006, 15:54 GMT

Vatican City - Pope Benedict XVI at a papal mass in the Vatican Saturday marking the 500th anniversary of the Swiss Guards thanked the army for their centuries of service to the papacy.

The pope urged members to look to the future with 'faith and courage,' during the service in St Peter's Basilica which was attending by serving guardsmen, veterans and Swiss dignitaries including Elmar Theodor Maeder, Commander of the Swiss Guards since 2002.

Also featuring the orchestra and choir of the Zurich Opera, the mass was the climax of anniversary celebrations that began in January to mark the army's first legendary march from Switzerland to Rome.

Ceremonies were to conclude with the swearing in of 33 recruits. Newcomers to the service are sworn in on May 6 every year, the date honouring the 147 guards who died fighting the forces of Charles V during the Sack of Rome in 1527.

The first Swiss Guards, answering a call for protection by Pope Julius II, had entered Rome on January 22, 1506.

A group of 70 former guardsmen who had recreated the 720-kilometre journey from Bellinzona, Switzerland, to Rome along the historic 'Via Francigena' pilgrimage route were honoured with a papal blessing on Thursday.

Arguably the most famous army in the world, today's Swiss Guards is an elite body of 110 soldiers entrusted with protecting the Vatican and the pope's life.

All of the papal soldiers must still be Swiss, young, Catholic, tall and male.