Not just competitions, medals and big events. In view of Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics and Paralympicsthe Diocese of Milan chooses to be there with a project – presented on Friday morning in Milan at a press conference at Palazzo Marino – capable of speaking to the city as a whole, with particular attention to young people, to the last, to those who risk remaining on the margins of the great Olympic story. It’s called “For Each Other” and it is the path promoted by the Diocese through the Fondazione Oratori Milanesi (FOM) and the Service for Oratory and Sport, with the patronage of Municipality of Milan and the Vatican Dicastery for Culture and Education led by the Prefect, Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça.
From January 29th to mid-March, a widespread calendar of initiatives will involve churches, oratories, universities, cultural and social places in the city: educational and artistic events, moments of prayer and dialogue, sporting testimonies, inclusive and interreligious proposals. The objective is declared: to ensure that the Olympic values become concrete experiences and do not remain slogans.
The Ambrosian Church and the Olympic values
«The Diocese of Milan is there and tries to express all its potential», he explained Don Stefano Guidi, director of the FOM, «the gaze is turned to the children, the young people, the last of the city, so that this sporting event leaves a trail of good, of solidarity, of collaboration in the city. We really want to express those Olympic values that cannot remain on paper.” A commitment that involves a broad network of ecclesial, sporting and civil entities. «We found great availability in the sporting world of the area», added Don Guidi, «for exampleto give the project a strong inclusive and also international value. We truly hope for an Olympics of the spirit, capable of speaking to the world.”
Say something non-trivial about sport
The archbishop of Milan, Monsignor, traced the cultural and pastoral horizon of the initiative Mario Delpini, who urged us not to reduce sport to a performance or spectacle. «We want to take this opportunity to say something about sport that is not banal», he stated. «Sport is not just an efficient body and excellent performance, but it is an expression of being men and women, with a soul, a vision, relationships».
According to Delpini, the Olympic values – excellence, friendship, respect – are a terrain on which the Church has something to say: «Against the banality of the idolatry of performance and success, we would like to say that sport is good for people, not just for the result. People are not just made up of a perfect body, but of relationships, of sharing, of taking care that no one is left behind.”
The Mass of January 29th and the Sportsmen’s Cross
The project For Each Other will officially open Thursday 29 January with Mass in the Basilica of San Babila, which during the Games will become the “Church of athletes”. During the Eucharistic celebration, the Sportsmen’s Cross will be welcomed, which since London 2012 has been delivered by Athletica Vaticana to the Diocese hosting the Olympics and Paralympics.
The Mass will be presided over by Monsignor Delpini and concelebrated by Monsignor Paul Tighe, secretary of the Vatican Dicastery for Culture and Education, and by Don Michele Gianola, undersecretary of the Italian Episcopal Conference and interim director of the CEI national office for sport. Among others, the Undersecretary of the Lombardy Region with responsibility for Sport and Youth Federica Picchi, the president of CONI Lombardy will be present Marco Riva, the vice-president of the Lombardy Italian Paralympic Committee Linda Casalini, as well as representatives of the Ambrosian oratories and local sports clubs. During the celebration, a prayer specially composed by the Archbishop for the Games will be read. The Mass will be broadcast live on the website Christian familyon Telenova (digital terrestrial channel 18), on scuoladimilano.it and on the Diocese’s YouTube channel.
The Villages of Values and 13 thousand young people involved
San Babila will also be the starting point of “Sport Values Tour”, which will involve around 13 thousand young people from schools, oratories and sports clubs.
The route will pass through the church of Sant’Antonio and the oratory of Sant’Eufemia, where three “Villages of values” – Excellence, Friendship, Respect – inspired by the Olympic Charter and the letters that Msgr. Delpini has dedicated himself in recent years to the world of sport. Around 100 volunteers will animate them.
The Archbishop’s letters, including the latest on the Winners theme, will be collected in a bilingual publication, Italian and English, distributed during the Mass on 29 January and available for the entire duration of the Games in the church of San Babila.
Theatre, prison and university: sport that challenges
Among the most significant events the theatrical show stands out “Citius, Altius, Fortius”, on stage on February 24th at the Collegio San Carlo. Promoted by the John Paul II Foundation for Sport and the CEI, the show is designed for teenagers and addresses themes such as bullying, exasperated competition and the search for perfection, intertwining the present with the figure of Henri Didon, Pierre de Coubertin’s inspiration.
Sport will also enter the Bollate prison with “The games of hope”an initiative that will see prisoners, prison police, magistrates and representatives of civil society compete in different disciplines, in an experience of meeting and re-education. There is no shortage of university proposals: online meetings on the history of the Olympics organized by the Milan-Bicocca University, the screening of the film The Master at IULM University and moments of discussion on the meaning of sport today.
Inclusion, disability and interreligious dialogue
During the Paralympics, scheduled from 6 to 15 March, the focus will be in particular on inclusion and disability, with inclusive concerts, integrated football and walking “Either all or none” at Sempione Park. «Not a good deed to remember every now and then», reiterated Delpini, «but a way of conceiving society that excludes no one». The project also opens up to interreligious dialogue, with a prayer promoted by the regional council and a meeting at the Milan-Bicocca University entitled “The meaning of sport”.
The real victory
«Will we win the Olympics and Paralympics?», asked the Archbishop during the press conference at Palazzo Marino, «yes, if everything that precedes, accompanies and follows the event will confirm that sport is good for people and for society. It is the most difficult victory. It is the most necessary victory».
A hope also shared by the Sports Councilor of the Municipality of Milan, Martina Riva: «The Games leave a true legacy when they become a shared experience, growth of people and attention to the least fortunate».
This is the ambition of For Each Other: making the Olympics not just an international showcase, but a human and spiritual heritage for Milan and for those who live there, especially those who are on the margins or excluded in the city.
