Pope Francis has quietly gathered an army of between ‘ten to twelve thousand highly trained soldiers’ according to conservative estimates by Vatican observers, and has even deployed a number of these troops in Syria. The Pope has one of the oldest standing military units in the world, the Pontifical Swiss Guard, formed in 1506 by Pope Julius II. Generally throughout history this private militia, populated by top ex-Swiss soldiers, has functioned as a personal bodyguard service for the Pontiff, with total numbers rarely exceeding one hundred. Observers were first intrigued and then alarmed to witness Pope Francis increase these numbers dramatically upon assuming the papacy, with figures now conservatively estimated at ‘ten to twelve thousand’ free standing elite warriors under his command, with further recruitment drives planned. Popular opinion in the Vatican has it that the Pope is responding to current wars, natural disasters, and famine, and feels the need for an increased military presence, more than any of his predecessors in history. The times dictate what the Pope must do. And the times are changing. Vatican observers have started to joke that Francis is no longer heads of a church with a military unit, but is now head [...]