Pope Francis fires head of the Swiss Guard: 'I give the orders around here'

National Post
05 Dec 2014 at 06:35 ET
.
The Pope is said to have been appalled recently to have emerged one morning from his private suite to find that a Swiss Guard had been standing...

ROME - 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 Wednesday that Col. 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 Argentine 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 outside all night.
.
"Sit down," he told the young guardsman, to which the soldier said: "I can't, it's against orders."
.
The Pope replied: "I give the orders around here" - and promptly went off to buy a cappuccino for the exhausted soldier. In October, the Pope was photographed shaking hands with a member of the elite corps, breaking years of protocol which demanded that pontiffs should be aloof in their dealings with Swiss Guardsmen
.
To view the source and photos, click here...