Former Swiss Guard Fights Poverty with Entrepreneurship

Somerville resident and author Andreas Widmer tells a story that exemplifies his time serving under Pope John Paul II as a Swiss Guard. 

A Kind Gesture By the Pope

Widmer recalls his first interaction with the Pope: it was Dec. 24, 1986. The young Swiss Guard had arrived just a few weeks before taking up his post and was spending his first Christmas away from home. After a tearful call home to his mother, he assumed guard duty on the door the Pope would pass through en route to St. Peter’s Square.

“He came out and he saw that I was crying,” Widmer said. The Pope was headed to give Midnight Mass that would be televised to millions, and yet as he passed through the door he noticed the nearly seven-foot-tall Widmer struggling to hold back tears.

The Pope asked Widmer, “This is the first time away from your family? … Andreas, I want to thank you for the sacrifice you are making for the Church. I will pray for you during Mass this evening.”  In that moment, Pope John Paul took the time to notice another person’s suffering and offer compassionate comfort despite the many major competing priorities for his attention.

Widmer served in Rome as a Swiss Guard under John Paul II from 1986-88.  While his service came more from a desire to “have the coolest job I could imagine, as a bodyguard” than as a statement of profound faith, those two years would transform his life in ways he couldn’t yet imagine. His faith would grow exponentially during his time at the Vatican, as would his understanding of the tenets of good leadership.

Widmer Finds His True Calling

Today, Widmer is the co-founder of the Social Equity Venture Fund, an organization that works with entrepreneurs in developing countries and promotes the alleviation of poverty through business and investment. The Pope’s views on poverty and prosperity have been an integral force shaping Widmer’s ideas and his work.

“John Paul said that to measure poverty on dollars alone was inadequate. The common figure is that so many people live on less than two dollars per day,” Widmer said. “Instead, you need to understand poverty in the broader context.  Poverty is the exclusion from networks of global productivity and exchange.”

This foundational approach has encouraged Widmer to take a specific view of development efforts today.

“Too often the development industry falls prey to traps. We view the poor as a problem to be solved,” Widmer said. “We fail to take the dignity of the individual into account.”

Instead, says Widmer, development efforts must start with “an integral view of the human person.”

“Coming into a country and telling people what to do is to demean them.  Instead, you must recognize their dignity and ability to make important decisions themselves,” Widmer said. “You can accompany them on that journey, but ultimately it must always be fundamentally about enabling them to change and improve their own circumstances.”

In Widmer’s experience, common pitfalls are motivated by good intentions.

“We want to help, but we must avoid falling into the redeemer complex,” Widmer said. “Instead of just having a heart for the poor, you must also have a mind for the poor.”

Shifting Gears

After leaving the Swiss Guards, Widmer married his American sweetheart and moved to the States. He had a very successful business career as an executive with major tech companies like FTP and Dragon Systems. But his experiences in business, including losing millions in a fraudulent deal, left him examining the effectiveness of capitalism and business today.

His search eventually took him back to his time with John Paul II, where he understood years later that the leadership he witnessed there encapsulated the traits needed for business to succeed in today’s business world.

Widmer Pens Book

Widmer recently released a book titled "The Pope & The CEO: John Paul II’s Leadership Lessons to a Young Swiss Guard." The book provides an inside look at life in the guards and personal stories of Widmer’s time serving John Paul, but more importantly, it lays out critical aspects of competent and ethical leadership from decision-making to managing a complex team.

Widmer remains closely involved with Rome, and his current projects seek to unite his interest in business and development with the potential of the Church to be influential in these areas.

Widmer’s parish is St. Catherine’s in Somerville, but he is an active member of the Catholic community and the Archdiocese of Boston. Many of Widmer's friends live in the Stoneham area, including Father Schmidt, and Widmer occasionally attends services at in Stoneham and has spoken to Parish groups there about his work.

He is currently building a fund that connects investors with Christian entrepreneurs in Africa, and is leading a research effort to better understand mindsets toward entrepreneurship within the Catholic Church.

Pope John Paul remains Widmer’s biggest inspiration. “He was the most authentically human person I have ever met,” Widmer said.