Swiss president promises pope support for barracks
Pope Francis has received Swiss Defence Minister Viola Amherd for a 25-minute audience at the Vatican.
Amherd, who holds the rotating Swiss presidency this year, wrote on social media on Saturday that she had assured the pope that Switzerland supported the reconstruction of the Swiss Guard barracks and the recruitment of new Swiss Guards.
The new barracks for the papal Swiss Guard are not being built by the Vatican, but by a private Swiss foundation. Like the federal government and various cantons, the Vatican is making a contribution. Of the CHF50 million ($55 million) required for the new building, CHF1.5 million is still needed.
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Amherd also tweeted that she had spoken to the pope about the civil war in Sudan and about the joint commitment to international humanitarian law and against the death penalty.
In the run-up to the audience, she had said that she would also address the cases of abuse in the Catholic Church. The government expected the Church to combat abuse effectively and take extensive preventative measures, she said. She also wanted to address the issue of equal rights for men and women in the Catholic Church.
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She said that for people in Switzerland equality is part of everyday life and it is incomprehensible to them that women are excluded from church offices and ministries and cannot participate in all decision-making processes. It was not clear whether Amherd was actually able to raise these two issues.
Swiss chocolates
During the subsequent meeting with the Secretary of State of the Holy See, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Amherd brought up the Ukraine peace conference scheduled to take place in the Bürgenstock resort overlooking Lake Lucerne on June 15-16. She also spoke about the current situation in Ukraine, the Middle East and Sudan, as well as the 75th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions.
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“During the cordial talks in the Secretariat of State,” the Vatican said in a statement, “satisfaction was expressed for the good relations and cooperation between the Holy See and the Swiss Confederation, also with regard to the renovation project of the Pontifical Swiss Guard Barracks, whose generous service to the Pope and the Holy See was emphasised”.
The pope presented Amherd with a bronze bas-relief entitled “Care of Creation”. Amherd offered the pope a box of Swiss chocolates, some Swiss stamps from the year of his birth, a CD of Argentinean tangos by Carlos Gardel, and a jug and goblets with a reproduction of the Matterhorn.
Translated from German and Italian by DeepL/ts
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