“All but 42 of the 189 guardsmen died defending Pope Clement VII. Their heroic stand allowed the pope to escape via a secret corridor to the impregnable Castel Sant’Angelo. The incredible sacrifice made by the Swiss Guard during the Sack of Rome in 1527 lives on to this day.”
one bishop said to the effect: I will die in my bed, my successor will die in prison, his successor will die a martyr in the public square, and his successor will rebuild the Church