World News
Farewell to arms: Former papal militia serves church with new mission
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- A small cadre of men wearing sleek, dark blue suits and red ties with thin, yellow stripes keep their eyes on pilgrims streaming through St. Peter's Basilica. The men, who help maintain order and decorum in the basilica, especially during papal ceremonies, are local volunteers for a charitable organization whose history is rooted in the papal army. In fact, it may be the only case in history in which a group dedicated to service and charity was born out of a civilian militia, said Calvino Gasparini, president of the Association of Sts. Peter and Paul. "I believe no army in the world has undergone such a radical change of this kind," he said in an interview with the Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, in late August. Walkie-talkies and smart suits decorated with a red and gold metal badge imprinted with the Italian word, "Vigilanza," or "Security," have replaced military uniforms, tall black bearskin hats and Remington muskets topped with bayonets. The lay association was born out of the pope's Palatine guard, one of a number of papal security forces that included the noble guard, the papal gendarmes, and the Swiss Guards. Pope Pius IX merged two pre-existing civilian militias and formed the Palatine guard in 1850. The new corps was made up of qualified Roman Catholics who wished to show their "unconditional fidelity" to the apostolic see, according to the group's website.
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