VATICAN CORNER
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The first woman to be hired to work at the Vatican was Anna Pezzoli who in 1915 had a job planning papal celebrations. The biggest hiring push came after the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s. Today there are about 750 women working there. Few Vatican workers get to live within the Vatican walls. Most live outside in the City of Rome and commute in and out. However, a select group of papal Swiss Guards, the chief gardener, and the head electrician do live in Vatican City and have wives and children there. In 2013 there were 13 families living in Vatican City. When men join the Swiss Guard they must be bachelors, but can marry later, and their children can live in the Vatican until age 25 if male and until married if female. These rules ensure that there is no permanent population. One of the head electrician’s daughters recently got married and lost her right to live in Vatican City. Magdalena Wolnska-Riedi, the Polish wife of a Swiss Guard, who works as a translator for the Vatican legal department and on some Polish TV projects, describes life in the Vatican. She says living there is like living in a little village, but one difference is the security. Everyone is observed, and every corner is monitored. Residents must get home before midnight when the gates to the Vatican are closed. Guests must also leave before midnight. There is a widely accepted code of dressing where uncovered knees and arms and low necklines are frowned upon. A woman can of course wear a short dress in Rome, but would have to change before coming back home. Only one’s parents and siblings can visit and spend the night, cousins and friends cannot. Health service is provided by 63 specialists, including a gynecologist and access is given to a top Roman maternity clinic. Within Vatican City there aren’t necessarily all the available services. A nearby kindergarten in Rome serves the Vatican children, and the Swiss Guards can send their children to a school serving the Swiss Embassy. There are no taxes, and residents have access to duty-free shopping, including luxury brands. Most residents go shopping “abroad” to Rome as well since food is very expensive in Vatican City. There are no beauty specialists or hairdressers, but there is a gym and a fitness coach. A gas station is much cheaper than in Rome. A woman living in Vatican City can feel happy and secure, if at times a bit lonely in this “man’s world.” But it’s not forever, when a guardsman turns 40, he must retire, and move from Vatican City with his family back to “real life”, outside the walls.
Sources: ncronline.org, worldcrunch.com, ibtimes.com, vaticanstate.va