The Catholic Weekly 9 August 2020

catholicweekly.com.au 7 9, August, 2020 THE INTERVIEW it should be and I absolutely know why it takes place be- cause I’ve lived with it and it works.” He popped the question on St Joseph’s feast day, picking it because the chaste saint is his role model. Swiss Guards are called to celibacy and can only marry if they become a corpo- ral, of which there are only 10 in Vatican City. Fortunately, Dominic had attained that rank and the couple were married by Car- dinal Pell at St Stephen’s of Abyssinians Church, the old- est church in Vatican City, surrounded by family, friends and 40 Swiss Guards. “I remember that Domi- nic had a tear in his eye when I walked into the Church and that we locked eyes and hands throughout the entire ceremony,” she said. “I think back often to that morning, a few hours before the ceremo- ny when we met at the Swiss Guard Chapel and without looking at each other, we held hands around the great iron door and prayed together. “Being married to a Swiss Guard isn’t always easy, it’s a very demanding job with long, irregular hours and never hav- ing weekends off together, not even Sundays. “Although I think that’s also the best part about being mar- ried to the type of man who would undertake this kind of sacrifice for 15 years, because it speaks to the qualities I love and admire in him - his faith, discipline and loyalty. “I pay my cleaner more than Dominic gets paid, it’s not a job you do for the mon- ey, but for the incredible hon- our of the job.” Life inside the Vatican is certainly unique. It’s a tiny community of a few hundred residents in a gated residence. She likens it to living in a Church as she can’t leave her apartment without having her shoulders and knees covered. However, from a security aspect, living in the Vatican and married to a Swiss Guard makes her feel like “the safest woman in Rome”. Prior to COVID, Joanne has spent the past few years work- ing at a university while doc- umenting her blessed life in her adopted country through words and pictures while spreading her faith to the thousands of people around the world who follow her on social media @swissguard- wife. However, since the pan- demic and her impending departure, her routine has looked very different, using the past few months to reflect on her incredible life. “My entrepreneurship coordinator role at the lo- cal American university was made redundant and so,much to my husband’s delight, I’ve been cooking and cleaning a whole lot more, my pasta with mushroom sauce must be one of the best in Rome by now,” she laughs. “Knowing this was my last fewmonths I’ve taken the time to take stock of this part of my life, and each morning after Mass take a giant mug of cap- puccino up to the Galea Foun- tain which overlooks Rome’s Piazza Risorgimento and en- joy the morning sunshine for an hour or two. “I walk, run, read and write in the Vatican Gardens for the best part of every day. I docu- ment every inch of the gardens and their cute inhabitants - 22 turtles, butterflies, lizards and thousands of bright green, noisy parrots. I can’t say I’ve been bored for a minute. “There are so many mo- ments I will never forget ... watching as Roma play at the Olympic Stadium, listening to Andrea Bocelli in Piazza del Popolo. “Just a few weeks ago when our lockdown conditions were eased, I sat on the edge of the Trevi Fountain for half an hour sipping a cappuccino on my own, at 9:30am. My skin is still tingling just thinking about it. I never thought I’d see bella Roma deserted and spotless.” Flying the flag as the first lay Australian living in the Joanna and husband Dominic enjoy a personal audience with Pope Francis before leaving the Vatican. Vatican has made Joanne’s ad- venture so much more special and she would now like to get a mosaic of Our Lady of the Southern Cross placed in the Vatican gardens to mark her time there. Many countries have col- ourful artworks displayed throughout the gardens and Joanne believes it would be lovely for all Australians to be represented. “It’s been such an honour to be the first [lay] Aussie to live in the Vatican, first work- ing here and then to create a bit of history by marrying a Swiss Guard and bringing him back to Australia,” she says. “My Vatican passport is number 153 so there are very few of us let alone from our part of the world. I get a lot of confused looks when I pro- duce it at the airport. “Coming from a country with such a short national his- tory gives me an even greater appreciation for the Swiss Guard who have been guard- ing the pope and the Vatican since 1506. “It’s incredible to be part of that long tradition.” Their last official duty was their private audience last weekwithPope Francis, which was held in his residence in Casa Santa Marta. During their 15-minute meeting, she said he did most of the talking, asking questions about their plans for Australia including where they will live and what they will do. “He was very interested in what we were going to do, and again we said we will leave that up to God,” she said. “One of the kindest things he said to me during our chat was that Dominic “sempre porta un bel sorriso” (is always smiling) and so is a pleasure to be around. “At the end of the meeting he gave us special boxed his and hers Papal Rosaries and a silver Papal Medallion to thank Dominic for his 15 years of service. “However, in the end it should have been me, thank- ing him for this blessed life I have had.” A personal journey: Joanne in prayer before the Pieta, Michelange- lo’s sculpture, in St Peter’s Basilica. Being married to a Swiss Guard isn’t always easy, it’s a very demanding job ... Although I think that’s also the best part about being married to the type of man who would undertake this kind of sacrifice for 15 years.” Joanne Bergamin The happy couple spend some quality time together in the Vati- can’s Sistine Chapel.