The Vatican announced that Pope Francis has ordered Daniel Craig to be removed from his position as chief of the Swiss Guard, The Guardian reported.
Anrig will continue serving the Vatican until his term ends on Jan. 31 of next year.
Although the Pope did not announce his reasons behind the removal of Anrig, sources from the Vatican told BBC that Francis does not approve the way the former colonel disciplines the other guards. Anrig is reportedly very demanding and strict when it comes to the shifts of the Swiss Guards patrolling the Vatican grounds.
In addition, journalists from Italy speculated that Anrig was dismissed from his position because of his excessively strict methods when it comes to enforcing security measures.
Franca Giansoldati of Il Messaggero told The Telegraph that Anrig's rigid military methods goes against the Pope's vision of how members of the Vatican should interact with people.
"From what we journalists have been able to reconstruct, there is a different vision between the Pope who wants relationships inside the Vatican to be humane, brotherly, event paternally," he told the news agency.
"And then, there is the vision of the Colonel who is the Colonel of the smallest army in the world, but it is still an army, with very rigid rules, very sever soldierly," Giansoldati added.
Anrig was appointed by Francis' predecessor, Pope Benedict, as the head of the Swiss Guard in 2008. Before serving the Vatican, he was Switzerland's senior chief of police.
At the time of his appointment, Anrig became the center of a controversy after an abuse case against him surfaced. According to the details of the case, which was filed in 2003, Anrig along with the Swiss police force raided a refuge center for immigrants. He then ordered the immigrants to strip naked before taking pictures of them.
The judge who handled the case said the officers involved in the raid acted according to the confines of their operation. The case was dropped but Anrig was asked to settle court fees.
