Vatican Guards Get New 3D Printed Helmets

 

The guards in charge of protecting Pope¹ Francis and the Vatican grounds have received new high-tech² helmets. The new helmets are made of plastic material created through 3-D printing technology. Previously³, guard members wore handmade helmets made of metal.

The helmets were given to the Vatican’s Swiss Guard on January 22, the group’s 513th birthday. They are the colorfully dressed security force that helps protect the pope.

The force numbers about 110 people. Members are required to be male, Catholic⁴, unmarried and have Swiss citizenship⁵, the Catholic website Crux⁶ reports. They must be between the ages of 19 and 30, at least 1.7 meters tall, and be willing to serve in the guard for at least two years.

The helmets are part of the Swiss Guard’s ceremonial clothing. These official uniforms include yellow, red and blue stripes on the parts covering the arms and legs. Guard members dress this way for official religious services by the pope or for Vatican visits by heads of state.

The new helmets look almost exactly like the old ones, with a round design and colorful bird feathers on top. One major change was added to the new helmets –an image with the coat of arms symbol for Pope Julius II. Pope Julius II first used the security force for his personal protection in 1506.

Urs Breitenmoser is a spokesman⁷ for the Swiss Guard. He told Reuters one the biggest improvements of the new helmets is that they will not heat up as much as the metal ones. This means the guards will sweat less, he said.

The new, lighter⁸ helmets should also provide relief for guard members wearing the helmets for long periods of time. Swiss news site Swissinfo.ch said the old helmets – which were made in Austria - weighed two kilograms. The new ones - made in Switzerland - weigh just 570 grams.

I’m Bryan Lynn.

Words in This Story

helmet – n. a hard hat worn to protect the head

uniform – n. special set of clothes that worn by people to do a particular job or students attending school

symbol – n. a sign or object used to represent something

sweat – v. produce liquid through the skin when a person becomes hot or nervous

1 pope   

n.（罗马天主教的）教皇

参考例句：

• The Pope is the spiritual leader of many Christians.教皇是众多基督徒的宗教领袖。
• The Pope is the supreme leader of the Roman Catholic Church.教皇是罗马天主教的最高领袖。

2 high-tech   

adj.高科技的

参考例句：

• The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
• The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。

3 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

4 catholic   

adj.天主教的；n.天主教徒

参考例句：

• The Pope is the supreme leader of the Roman Catholic Church.教皇是罗马天主教的最高领袖。
• She was a devoutly Catholic.她是一个虔诚地天主教徒。

5 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。

6 crux   

adj.十字形；难事，关键，最重要点

参考例句：

• The crux of the matter is how to comprehensively treat this trend.问题的关键是如何全面地看待这种趋势。
• The crux of the matter is that attitudes have changed.问题的要害是人们的态度转变了。

7 spokesman   

n.发言人，代言人

参考例句：

• The government spokesman gave a quick briefing to the reporters.政府发言人向记者们作了情况简介。
• They drew lots to decide who should be their spokesman.他们抽签决定谁是他们的发言人。

8 lighter   

n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级

参考例句：

• The portrait was touched up so as to make it lighter.这张画经过润色，色调明朗了一些。
• The lighter works off the car battery.引燃器利用汽车蓄电池打火。