Tales from the Swiss Guard
November 19 @ 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
In partnership with the Dante Alighieri Society, Mario Enzler joins us in the Main Reading Room to reflect on his years serving in the Swiss Guard under Pope John Paul II. As both a soldier and conductor of the Swiss Guard Band, Enzler experienced a unique chapter in the history of the Vatican, working in close proximity to the pope and encountering dignitaries from around the world. Drawing on his firsthand experiences, Enzler will share stories of life within Vatican City, his relationships with two popes, and the traditions and responsibilities of service in the Swiss Guard.
About Mario Enzler
Mario was born and raised in Northern Italy, in a small town in the foothills of the Italian Alps. After studying music in Milan and Verona, he joined the Swiss Guard and served under St. Pope John Paul II in the double capacity of soldier and conductor of the Swiss Guard Band. Following his time of service at the Vatican, he worked for almost twenty years in investment banking and wealth management. As a consequence of his father-in-law’s sudden death, Mario left the financial industry and, with his family, moved to the United States, where, with his wife, he started a Classical K-12 Academy rooted in the Catholic tradition. He then taught business and finance at Catholic University of America and at the University of St. Thomas, and today he teaches Ecclesial Management and Administration at Catholic Distance University. Mario started Borromeo Project, a consulting firm to aid Catholic dioceses, parishes, religious orders, and apostolates across the world with financial problems and behavioral crises that tend to plague them. Mario is available as a consultant and advisor, as a business coach, as a fractional CFO/COO, and as a public speaker.
About the Dante Alighieri Society
Our Charleston chapter was established in January 2017 by Claudio Pastor, Executive Director of DAS Miami, and Marina Gloria Bellelli, then Consul General of Italy for the Southeastern United States, who appointed Donatella Cappelletti della Porta as president, a role she has held ever since.
The Dante Alighieri Society was founded in 1889 and in 1893 was formally established in Rome by Royal Decree of King Umberto I di Savoia for the purpose of preserving and promoting the Italian language and the wealth of cultural and social contributions of Italy to Western civilization. At that time the DA Society had an important goal to reach. Italy was finally united in 1861 from a collection of independent states and regions controlled by foreign powers. Forging a nation out of the various loyalties was a daunting task. Not long after unification, a mass migration of Italians to other countries in Europe, North and South America, and Australia would begin. These millions of emigrants wanted to know and preserve a sense of Italian culture and language, for themselves and their children. At the same time, the richness of Italian culture and the beauty of the Italian language equally enthralled many people who were not of Italian descent. To reach out to these people in 1889, a group in Rome, led by the Italian poet Giosuè Carducci, formed the Dante Alighieri Society, whose mission would be to promote overseas the language, literature, and culture of Italy. So the society was named for Italy’s greatest and most famous writer, Dante Alighieri, author of The Divine Comedy.
Initially centered in Italy, it soon expanded to cities throughout the world where Italians had settled and where other admirers of all things Italian could gather, learn, and appreciate all that Italy had to offer across the spectrum of human endeavors.
With 87 chapters in Italy, it has grown to 500 chapters throughout the world – including one right here in Charleston.