He has dismissed and demoted cardinals, bishops and the Vatican secretary of state, and now Pope Francis’s reformist zeal has claimed a new scalp – the head of his own private army, the Swiss Guard.
In a dispassionate one-sentence notice, the Vatican’s official newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, announced on Wednesday that Daniel Anrig will no longer serve as the commandant of the 500-year-old corps after the end of next month.
No official explanation was given for the decision, but it was widely rumoured that the Argentinean Pope, who has established a warmer, more inclusive style of governance since being appointed pontiff in March last year, found the commander’s manner overly strict and “Teutonic”.
The 77-year-old pope is said to have been appalled recently to have emerged one morning from his private suite of rooms to find that a Swiss Guard had been standing guard all night.
“Sit down,” he told the young guardsman, to which the soldier said: “I can’t, it’s against orders.” » | Nick Squires, Rome | Wednesday, November 03, 2014
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Le commandant de la Garde suisse partira à la fin janvier : L'actuel commandant quittera son poste au début 2015, après plus de cinq ans à son poste, contrairement aux usages. Le Lucernois Christophe Graf, actuel vice-commandant de la Garde, pourrait lui succéder. » | smk/ats/Newsnet | mercredi 03 décembre 2014
