Vatican confirms investigation into alleged antisemitic act by Swiss Guard

Victoria Cardiel and Kristina Millare, Catholic News Agency

Thursday, November 13, 2025

The Pontifical Swiss Guard this week opened an internal investigation to clarify an alleged act of antisemitism committed by one of its guards against two Jewish women in St. Peter’s Square, the Vatican confirmed. According to a Nov. 7 report published in Italian newspaper La Repubblica, Israeli writer and theater director Michal Govrin said a Swiss Guard “hissed at” her and a female colleague, saying “les juifs, the Jews,” before “making a gesture of spitting in our direction with obvious contempt.” The two women were part of an international Jewish delegation in Rome to participate in Nostra Aetate anniversary celebrations.