Athletica Vaticana, the Vatican’s official sports association, is scheduled to deliver the Olympic and Paralympic Cross to Milan on Jan. 29 as preparations continue for the Milan-Cortina Winter Games, according to a report from Vatican News.
Mass at Milan’s ‘Church of Athletes’
The cross will be presented during a Mass at the Basilica of San Babila, which will serve as the “Church of Athletes” throughout the Olympic and Paralympic competitions, according to Vatican officials.
Milan Archbishop Mario Delpini is scheduled to preside over the service, which will be concelebrated by Monsignor Paul Tighe, secretary of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Culture and Education, and clergy involved in Italy’s Catholic sports ministry, according to Vatican News. A special prayer written by Archbishop Delpini for the occasion of the Games will be read during the Mass.
The Mass is set for the eve of the Olympic truce, which runs from one week before the Olympic opening on Feb. 6 through one week after the Paralympic closing ceremony on March 15. The Olympic truce, recognized by the United Nations, calls for a period of peace surrounding the competitions.
According to Vatican News, the basilica will host additional liturgies and events during that period as part of its role as a gathering place for athletes and visitors connected to the Games.
A symbol of unity and peace
The cross is made from 15 pieces of wood sourced from regions around the world, including the Holy Land, China, Russia, North and South Africa, India, Australia, Brazil, Argentina, Jamaica, North America, and the United Kingdom. It is intended to symbolize unity, faith, and the ancient Olympic tradition of a truce during the Games.
The Cross of Athletes was created by English artist Jon Cornwall for the 2012 London Olympics at the request of organizers coordinating Catholic initiatives connected to the Games. The tradition of placing the cross in a chapel for athletes began in London and has continued at subsequent Olympics, including Rio de Janeiro in 2016, Tokyo in 2021 and Paris in 2024.
Pope Francis blessed it in 2013, during World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro. It was later entrusted to Athletica Vaticana during the Vatican’s Jubilee of Sport on June 14, 2025, an event presided over by Pope Leo XIV.
Part of a broader initiative
According to Finestre sull’Arte, an Italian arts and culture publication, the Milan delivery forms part of a broader cultural and pastoral initiative organized by the Archdiocese of Milan in connection with the Winter Games. Known as “For Each Other.” The program includes educational, cultural and sports-related events, which run from late January through mid-March and involve schools, parishes, youth groups and local organizations.
Presenting the initiative last week at Milan’s city hall, church, and civic leaders described it as an effort to emphasize the social and educational role of sports alongside elite competition.
Church and civic leaders emphasize values of sport
“The contribution that the Church intends to offer to the world of sports: not to deny the value of competition, but to orient it so that it is not dominated by an individualistic logic, but rather open to the dimension of the common good,” remarked Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça, prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Culture and Education.Martina Riva, Milan city councilor for sport and youth policies, said the Games represent “not just a great organizational or sporting challenge, but an educational and community opportunity.” Riva added that the program aims to ensure the Olympics leave “a true legacy when they become shared experience, growth of people and attention to the last.”
Archbishop Delpini said the Christian community sees sport as a tool for education and inclusion but also “feels the responsibility to be a critical voice and lucid denunciation of those degenerations that ruin sports in the idolatrous cult of success, money, exhibitionism, and exasperated competition.”
The Winter Games
The Milan-Cortina Winter Olympic Games are scheduled to open Feb. 6 with a ceremony at San Siro Stadium in Milan. The Olympic closing ceremony will take place Feb. 22 at the Arena di Verona. The Paralympic Games will conclude March 15.