Even the Swiss Guards, it seems, are into the marketing racket. As readers of this blog know, and as I explain in my “Pontifications” introduction, I like to roam the broad realm of Catholic faith and culture, from the sublime to the ridiculous–from church reform to secular politics, from Tim Russert to George Carlin, and much in between.
As Carol Glatz notes on the CNS blog from which I scored this story, “One interesting item on offer is a silver coin that is a modern day replica of the gold papal ducat Pope Julius II paid the very first Swiss battalion that marched from Switzerland to their new job in Rome more than half a millennium ago.”