Killings at the Vatican

The tragedy which took place Monday at the Vatican, in which a member of the pope's Swiss Guards murdered his commander and the commander's wife before killing himself, evokes ominous signs and adds pages to Swiss history.

The triple murder-suicide is ominous because it is yet another chapter in the interminable story of the selection of the commander of the Swiss Guards.

It is probable that this crime will strike a blow for the 16th century institution by making it appear what it is: archaic.

From another point of view, the Swiss Guards is of the same mold as all the historic monuments of Rome.

It is difficult for us to imagine today that down the centuries, the Swiss sold their workforce across Europe, in the same way that summer workers come to work in Switzerland, and that the industry they preferred to export was their ability to fight.

This violence of a guaranteed origin, put to work in the service of princes and states, has long been sought after.

What is troubling is that now it has been turned upon itself, threatening the magnificent and theatrical survival of the pope's Swiss Guards.

-- Tribune de Geneve, Geneva