June 2, 2012. (Romereports.com) Every year in May, a new class of recruits is sworn into the Vatican's Swiss Guard. The ceremony is attended by family, Vatican officials, as well as former members of the pope's army.
Andreas Widmer served in the Swiss Guard for two years as a young man under John Paul II. He then
took the lessons he learned at the Vatican into the business world, working with entrepreneurs to fight poverty. He writes about these experiences in his book “The Pope and the CEO,” telling about the how much he was influenced by John Paul II.
Andreas Widmer
Author, “Pope & the CEO”“I feel I was so privileged to become a Swiss Guard and have a front row seat to this man's life during my time and finding my faith here in Rome in the guards and having this kind of privileged access that I felt more and more that sharing this with others is one way of showing my appreciation.”Widmer is now the president the Carpenter’s Fund, a group that
empowers entrepreneurs in poorer countries by providing them with loans. Through his service in the Swiss Guard and his work in business, he believes that people should be encouraged to make profits.
Andreas Widmer
Author, “Pope & the CEO”“We ought to be profitable servants, not only spiritually but materially as well. But what comes into play is what are we doing with our profits and how are we making our profits and how much profit should we make.”However, through his successes and failures in business ventures, the former guard says that he always remembers what lies beyond the days profits.
Andreas Widmer
Author, “Pope & the CEO”“The key lesson I learned is that to not forget what the ultimate goal is of where we're trying to get to. Business and all of the things we do at work is a means to get to the end and we should never forget what that end is.”Andreas Widmer hopes the book can be used as a tool for the next generation of business people as they enter the work force.
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