Another Filipino has joined the Pontifical Swiss Guards.
A report from Radio Veritas identified the Filipino as Sebastian Esai Eco Eviota.
Veritas said Eviota, who left the Philippines in 2009, is the first full blooded Filipino to become part of the Pontifical Swiss Guard. His parents are from Surigao City and Agusan Del Sur.
Father Gregory Ramon Gaston, rector of the Pontificio Collegio Filippino, welcomed the news.
"We are happy to see children of Filipinos incorporated into the Church and society abroad,” he said.
"As we begin the next 500 Years of Christianity in the Philippines, the service of those with Filipino roots in the Pontifical Swiss Guards and in the Vatican as a whole is yet another manifestation that indeed we are gifted to give of ourselves wherever God has called us to be,” added Gaston.
In October 2020, the Vatican sworn in Vincent Lüthi, a Swiss with Filipino parentage as member of the Swiss Guard.
Established in 1506, CBCP News said the duty of the world’s smallest but oldest standing arm is to protect the Vatican, Apostolic Palace and the pope.
Members of the Swiss Guard must be Swiss, Catholic and top-notch soldiers. They are also famous for their antique blue, red and yellow striped uniforms.