The daily presence of the Swiss Guard notwithstanding, Pope Francis visited Switzerland only once, in 2018. This is how this event is remembered.
The Pope arrived in Geneva in June 21st, 2018, to mark the 50th anniversary of the World Council of Churches (WCC).
After being welcomed on the tarmac by the then president Alain Berset and ministers Doris Leuthard and Ignazio Cassis, the Holy Father was taken to the organisation’s headquarters in the Geneva district of Grand-Saconnex.
Next, he was whisked to the nearby canton of Vaud for lunch in the Bossey Castle, located in Bogis-Bossey, before returning to Geneva in the afternoon.
For Geneva’s population, the highlight of the visit came later in the afternoon with a mass at Palexpo in Geneva, attended by more than 40,000 worshippers – not only Catholics and other Christians, but people of other denominations as well.
As the local media reported at the time, “for nearly forty minutes, the Pope travelled through the aisles of Palexpo in his popemobile, blessing the crowd as he passed”.
He then “prayed before the statue of the Virgin Mary before donning his mitre for the liturgy”.
Before concluding his one-day visit to Switzerland that evening, “there was a slight scare at the end of the Mass when the pontiff stumbled and would probably have fallen heavily if he hadn’t been caught in the nick of time”, the media related. “The Holy Father was then able to leave the hall without further assistance.”
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‘Wonderful humanity’
Five years later, on March 12th, 2023, the Pope was full of praise for Switzerland during an interview with the RSI public broadcaster inTicino.
“I love the Swiss,” he stated, explaining what he found particularly “fascinating” about the country.
“Each region has its own personality. The people of Ticino are closer to us in Italy, those who come from Geneva are more French, and those who come from the German-speaking part have yet another personality,” the Pope remarked. “But they are all good; the Swiss have a wonderful humanity.”
