TWENTY four-year-old Sebastian Esai Eco Eviota became the first full-blooded Filipino member of the Pontifical Swiss Guard, which is tasked to protect the Pope and the Apostolic Palace in Vatican City.
In a report by CBCP News, Eviota was among the 23 new recruits of the Swiss Guard sworn in in an elaborate ceremony last Saturday at the Courtyard of Saint Damasus in the Vatican.
“The new Swiss Guards celebrated Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, followed by a meeting with Pope Francis in the Apostolic Palace,” said the report of the official news agency of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).
“The men were joined by their families and delegates of the Swiss Confederation and Swiss Bishops,” it also said.
With his enlistment, the Davao City-born Eviota became the second Filipino to be included in the smallest army in the world, but the first one with full Filipino origin.
Swiss-Filipino Vincent Lí¼thi, whose mother is from Cebu, is the first mixed Filipino member of the Swiss Guards after his enlistment in October 2020.
Born in 1998, Eviota moved to Switzerland back in 2009 together with her elder sister on a family reunion visa.
His father, Diomedes, is from Surigao City, while his mother Editha, who died in 2000, was from Esperanza, Agusan del Sur.
In Switzerland, Eviota joined the Youth for Christ, which is the youth ministry of the Couples for Christ (CFC).
Eviota was a second lieutenant at the Swiss Army before he was admitted to the Swiss Guards in January 2022 to complete his basic training.
Founded by Pope Julius II in 1506, the Pontifical Swiss Guard is a military body originally made up of Swiss citizens.
In October 2019, the Vatican approved the expansion of the size of the Pontifical Swiss Guards from 110 to 135 personnel.
Qualifications for the Swiss Guards require recruits to be Catholic, single males, with Swiss citizenship, and have completed basic training with the Swiss Armed Forces.
