Christoph Graf | |
|---|---|
 Graf in 2016 | |
| Born | 5 September 1961 Pfaffnau, Switzerland |
| Allegiance | Holy See |
| Service/ | Pontifical Swiss Guard |
| Years of service | 1987–present |
| Rank | Colonel |
Colonel Christoph Graf (born 5 September 1961) is the 35th and current Commander of the Pontifical Swiss Guard, appointed by Pope Francis on 7 February 2015, replacing Col. Daniel Anrig.
Graf was born in Pfaffnau, in the canton of Lucerne, Switzerland. He joined the Swiss Guard in 1987. In August 1999 he was promoted to sergeant, and later in 2000 he was promoted to sergeant-major, a position in which he remained until April 2009 when he was promoted to second captain. [1] In October 2010, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and vice commander of the guard, where he acted as a chief of staff and first adviser to the commander. [2]
In late 2014, it was announced that Anrig would leave the position of commander after seven years of service. On 7 February 2015, Pope Francis appointed Graf as the new commander of the Pontifical Swiss Guard. [3]
The Roman Curia comprises the administrative institutions of the Holy See and the central body through which the affairs of the Catholic Church are conducted. The Roman Curia is the institution which the Roman Pontiff ordinarily makes use of in the exercise of his supreme pastoral office and universal mission in the world. It is at the service of the Pope, successor of Peter, and of the Bishops, successors of the Apostles, according to the modalities that are proper to the nature of each one, fulfilling their function with an evangelical spirit, working for the good and at the service of communion, unity and edification of the Universal Church and attending to the demands of the world in which the Church is called to fulfill its mission.
Vatican City, officially the Vatican City State, is an independent city-state, microstate and enclave within Rome, Italy. Also known as The Vatican, the state became independent from Italy in 1929 with the Lateran Treaty, and it is a distinct territory under "full ownership, exclusive dominion, and sovereign authority and jurisdiction" of the Holy See, itself a sovereign entity of international law, which maintains the city state's temporal, diplomatic, and spiritual independence. With an area of 49 hectares and a 2019 population of about 453, it is the smallest state in the world both by area and population. As governed by the Holy See, Vatican City State is an ecclesiastical or sacerdotal-monarchical state ruled by the Pope who is the bishop of Rome and head of the Catholic Church. The highest state functionaries are all Catholic clergy of various origins. After the Avignon Papacy (1309–1377) the popes have mainly resided at the Apostolic Palace within what is now Vatican City, although at times residing instead in the Quirinal Palace in Rome or elsewhere. The Vatican is also a metonym for the Holy See.
Ennio Antonelli is an Italian cardinal of the Catholic Church and retired President of the Pontifical Council for the Family.
Christoph Maria Michael Hugo Damian Peter Adalbert Graf von Schönborn, O.P. is a Bohemian-born Austrian Dominican friar and theologian, who is a cardinal of the Catholic Church. He serves as the Archbishop of Vienna and was the Chairman of the Austrian Bishops' Conference from 1998 to 2020. He was elevated to the cardinalate in 1998. He is also Grand Chaplain of the Order of the Golden Fleece, of which he has been a member since 1961. He is a member of the formerly sovereign princely House of Schönborn, several members of which held high offices of the Holy Roman Empire and the Catholic Church as prince-bishops, prince-electors and cardinals.
Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson is a Ghanaian prelate and cardinal of the Catholic Church who has served as chancellor of the Pontifical Academies of Sciences since 2022. He was president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace from 2009 to 2017 and the inaugural prefect of the Dicastery for the Promotion of Integral Human Development from 2017 to 2021.
Zenon Grocholewski was a Polish prelate of the Catholic Church, who was elevated to the rank of cardinal in 2001. He joined the Roman Curia in 1972 and served from 1999 until 2015 as Prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education and Grand Chancellor of the Pontifical Gregorian University.
The Pontifical Academy of Sciences is a scientific academy of the Vatican City, established in 1936 by Pope Pius XI. Its aim is to promote the progress of the mathematical, physical, and natural sciences and the study of related epistemological problems. The Accademia Pontificia dei Nuovi Lincei was founded in 1847 as a more closely supervised successor to the Accademia dei Lincei established in Rome in 1603 by the learned Roman Prince, Federico Cesi (1585–1630), who was a young botanist and naturalist, and which claimed Galileo Galilei as its president. The Accademia dei Lincei survives as a wholly separate institution.
In the United States Army, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force, lieutenant colonel is a field-grade officer rank, just above the rank of major and just below the rank of colonel. It is equivalent to the naval rank of commander in the other uniformed services.
Pastor bonus is an apostolic constitution promulgated by Pope John Paul II on 28 June 1988. It instituted a number of reforms in the process of running the central government of the Catholic Church.
The Pontifical Swiss Guard is an armed force and honour guard unit maintained by the Holy See that protects the Pope and the Apostolic Palace within the territory of the Vatican City. Established in 1506 under Pope Julius II, the Pontifical Swiss Guard is among the oldest military units in continuous operation.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and introduction to Vatican City:
Colonel Daniel Rudolf Anrig was the thirty fourth Commandant of the Pontifical Swiss Guard, appointed by Pope Benedict XVI on 19 August 2008, He replaced Elmar Mäder who had served as Commandant of the Swiss Guard since 2002. He was succeeded by Christoph Graf as his term ended on 31 January 2015 and was not extended by Pope Francis.
Antonio Maria Vegliò is an Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, who has served as Vatican diplomat and in the Roman Curia. He was President of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerants. Vegliò was created a Cardinal by Pope Benedict XVI on 18 February 2012.
Igor Valerievich Babailov is an American portrait artist known for his commissioned portraits of global leaders, celebrities and distinguished individuals. Some of his notable portraits include those of: U.S. President George W. Bush, U.S. Military Commander and CIA Director, General David H. Petraeus, Pope Francis (Vatican), Pope Benedict XVI(Vatican), Pope John Paul II(Vatican), Nelson Mandela, New York State Appellate Division Justice Joseph P. Sullivan, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani of New York, Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, pianist Byron Janis (Steinway Hall), Templeton Prize recipient Michael Novak of the American Enterprise Institute, Commander of the Pontifical Swiss Guard Col. Christoph Graf (Vatican), TV personality Regis Philbin and numerous other prominent figures for public and private collections.
Santos Abril y Castelló is a Spanish prelate of the Catholic Church. After a career in the diplomatic corps of the Holy See, he held a number of positions in the Roman Curia and from 2011 to 2016 was Archpriest of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore.
Daniel Fernando Sturla Berhouet, SDB is a Uruguayan Roman Catholic prelate and the archbishop of Montevideo.
Karl-Josef Rauber is a cardinal of the Catholic Church, who served as a papal nuncio from 1982 until his retirement in 2009.
Events in the year 2021 in Vatican City.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)