Former Swiss Vatican Guards arrive in Rome

SWISSINFO, May 3 — A group of former Swiss Vatican Guards arrived in Rome after reenacting a legendary march from Switzerland undertaken 500 years ago to come to the aid of the pope, the news service reported.

Their arrival marked the start of the events celebrating the 500th anniversary of the founding of the Pontifical Vatican Guard. Some 70 former guardsmen, from 25 to 76 years old, covered the same arduous 450-mile route from Bellinzona to the Vatican City.

The march — which took 28 days — followed the historic Via Francigena (Route of the Franks) pilgrimage route to Rome. Fifty other former papal guards also walked part of the way.

The former Swiss guards were officially welcomed by a delegation of officials from Rome and the Vatican, and received a blessing from Pope Benedict XVI on May 4. The new Swiss guardsmen will be sworn in May 7 in St. Peter’s Square.

Pope Prays the World Be Spared of More Terrorism

REUTERS, May 1 — Pope Benedict, visiting a shrine in Rome’s outskirts, prayed that the world be spared more wars and terrorism.

The Holy Father flew by helicopter from the Vatican to the Divino Amore (Divine Love) shrine just south of the city on the first day of the month traditionally dedicated to the Madonna and the praying of the Rosary.

“Even today, there is a need for conversion to God, the God of love, so that the world be freed of wars and terrorism,” he said in a brief address after praying the Rosary with the faithful.

The Pope, who was spending little more than an hour at the shrine, which is very popular with Rome’s Catholic community, paid tribute to the three Italian soldiers killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq last week.

Secretary: John Paul I Knew He Wouldn’t Last Long

ANSA, May 3 — Pope John Paul I knew he was too weak and ill to last long as Pope and he said as much three days after his election, his personal secretary said.

According to the Italian news agency, the Pope was shown an air ticket to Mexico, where an important religious meeting was to be held a few months later. There were high hopes that the Holy Father would attend. “The Pope told me to give that ticket to his successor,” Bishop John Magee, his personal secretary, said in an interview published in the Italian weekly Gente. “John Paul I said to me, ‘I’ll never leave Rome. I’ll be going soon.’ Basically, he predicted his own death.”

Bishop Magee said John Paul I frequently spoke of his incredulity at having been chosen by his fellow cardinals and saw himself as deeply unworthy. “He used to say, ‘Why me, when there were so many other better candidates, like that cardinal who was sitting facing me, the one that Paul VI had chosen as his successor?’”

The cardinal that was facing him: Cardinal Karol Wojtyla, the future John Paul II.