On the day they're sworn in at the Vatican, new recruits
to the Swiss Guard are asked to promise that they would die for the
Pope. What they're not required to do is pledge to play music for him.
"That comes later," explains Franz Hurlimann, "but it's very important, all the same."
Hurlimann, 24, joined the Swiss Guard two years ago; and as well as standing to attention at the entrances to the Vatican City, and being part of a guard of honour whenever the Pope is in St Peter's Square, he plays the saxophone in the Pontiff 's band.
The Swiss Guard band has provided the musical backdrop for thousands of Vatican occasions through the years and now, for the first time, they've released an album of their Christmas music.
"There are several crucial dates in the Swiss Guard band's calendar," says Hurli-mann. "One is Pope Benedict's birthday on April 16, when we play for him in the Vatican gardens. Another is the annual swearing-in ceremony each May."
But it's the third date, the annual Christmas concert performed in St Peter's Square each December, that gives the public their chance to hear the band's music.
"Each year a life-size nativity is erected in St Peter's Square, and on the day the Pope comes out of the basilica to pray there, we provide the music," says Hurlimann.
"It's a very moving occasion, because the Pope is paying homage at the scene of Christ's birth - and after a period of silence, the Swiss Guard band strikes up with some festive tunes."
This year, says Hurlimann, the band's players decided they wanted to share their music beyond the pilgrims gathered in St Peter's, so they've released a CD.
Funds raised from its sale will benefit two charities, one helping drug addicts in Switzerland, the other doing development work in Zimbabwe.
It's hoped, too, that the CD will help shine the spotlight on the lives of the young men who make up the Swiss Guard.
"We're instantly recognizable across the world in our yellow, blue and red uniforms," says Hurlimann. "But few people know what the life of a Swiss Guard is really like."
There are currently 110 men in the Swiss Guard (no women, although the current commander, Colonel Daniel Anrig, has hinted that they might one day be admitted).
It is the oldest standing army in the world, with a history stretching back even earlier than 1506, when it was formally established by Pope Julius II.
For many years before that, Swiss mercenaries had been chosen to guard the popes. They were preferred, as Hurlimann explains, be-cause of their bravery and - through years of constant warfare between rival religious factions - their neutrality.
The soldiers live in a barracks inside Vatican City, which also houses the Swiss Guard museum's collection of weapons and armoury. "Feel this," says Hurlimann, showing me a halberd - an axe-like blade and a steel spike mounted on the end of a long shaft - whose handle is ridged with notches. "Each notch has been carved to represent a life taken using it."
The history of the Swiss Guard is certainly blood-splattered: inside their private chapel is a memorial to the 147 corps members who died during the Sack of Rome in 1527 (the surviving members saved the life of Pope Clement VII).
But these days, says their chaplain,
Father Alain de Raemy, life for a Swiss Guard tends to be a lot quieter -
although the young men who come from Switzerland to join the force
(recruits must be Swiss, Catholic, unmarried, at least 5-foot-seven, and
have undergone basic military training) don't necessarily have an easy
ride.
"Most of the new soldiers are just 19 or 20 and haven't lived away from Switzerland before," he says. "Italy is a very different culture for them - Italians are a lot more laid-back, a lot less time-conscious, than the Swiss. So the boys sometimes find life difficult here, and a lot of my work is supporting them through the tough times."
Given the strict entrance requirements, says Father de Raemy, it's not always easy to find young men willing to sign up. "We do have recruitment difficulties," he admits. "Those who join are often very religious, or are very interested in military history."
Most years, he says, two or three men who have served in the Swiss Guard go on to enter a seminary. "Being here means they are close to the Pope, they hear him preaching, they see his witness. They get a taste of what the universal Church means, and some give their lives to the priesthood."
Others, though, find Vatican life hard to stomach. "It's true that some are a bit disappointed," he says. "If they think the Vatican will be like a monastery, they soon learn otherwise. This is a state, an administration, and a lot of politics goes on here."
Most Swiss Guards serve two years in Rome, but a handful make a career of it - they're allowed to marry and have families. "Only four or five families live inside the Vatican City, so it's a very unusual way of life," says Sgt. Tiziano Guarneri, 38, a member of the Swiss Guard for 18 years and a father of three children aged two, four and seven.
"It's very safe here - the children cycle their bikes and play football in the Vatican gardens as the bishops and cardinals walk past, and there are some nuns in the apartment above ours who babysit for us."
Christmas with the Pontifical Swiss Guard is released on Alive Publishing.
"Most of the new soldiers are just 19 or 20 and haven't lived away from Switzerland before," he says. "Italy is a very different culture for them - Italians are a lot more laid-back, a lot less time-conscious, than the Swiss. So the boys sometimes find life difficult here, and a lot of my work is supporting them through the tough times."
Given the strict entrance requirements, says Father de Raemy, it's not always easy to find young men willing to sign up. "We do have recruitment difficulties," he admits. "Those who join are often very religious, or are very interested in military history."
Most years, he says, two or three men who have served in the Swiss Guard go on to enter a seminary. "Being here means they are close to the Pope, they hear him preaching, they see his witness. They get a taste of what the universal Church means, and some give their lives to the priesthood."
Others, though, find Vatican life hard to stomach. "It's true that some are a bit disappointed," he says. "If they think the Vatican will be like a monastery, they soon learn otherwise. This is a state, an administration, and a lot of politics goes on here."
Most Swiss Guards serve two years in Rome, but a handful make a career of it - they're allowed to marry and have families. "Only four or five families live inside the Vatican City, so it's a very unusual way of life," says Sgt. Tiziano Guarneri, 38, a member of the Swiss Guard for 18 years and a father of three children aged two, four and seven.
"It's very safe here - the children cycle their bikes and play football in the Vatican gardens as the bishops and cardinals walk past, and there are some nuns in the apartment above ours who babysit for us."
Christmas with the Pontifical Swiss Guard is released on Alive Publishing.