Milan archdiocese ties parish sports to Olympic values
Milan’s Catholic archdiocese has launched a program to promote Olympic values among young people, using parish sports and school activities ahead of the 2026 Winter Olympics, the Associated Press reported. The initiative, called the Ora Sport on Fire Tour, has been underway since late 2022, and the archdiocese plans additional activities during the Games.
Archbishop Mario Delpini wrote in a letter after the program launch that “We believe that the Olympics represent a great educational opportunity in the meanings they will carry.” He also described the Games-host city as a “metaphor to say that relationships are shaped by competing in mutual esteem,” linking the Olympic setting to how people relate to one another.
From the Olympic Charter to Christian-inspired school and oratory life
In Italy, the tour operates in parish youth centers and schools. The AP said it was developed by the Milan archdiocese’s sports and youth outreach offices, working with school pastoral services.
Guiding the effort was a first step of studying the Olympic Charter, described as the founding document of the Olympic movement. AP reported that Milan faith leaders then rooted the project in the event’s cultural values, promoting themes including human rights and peace through sporting events, contests, and workshops.
Those activities are hosted in Christian-inspired schools and oratories, which are parish spaces used for afterschool programming for young people, including sports and Catholic catechism classes. The AP also said the archdiocese has organized encounters involving religious leaders, athletes, and young people as part of the program.
Athletes bring messages of patience and cultivating dreams
One early event tied to the tour featured Paralympic swimmer Arianna Talamona speaking to students during an encounter streamed on the archdiocese’s channels. In the AP report, Talamona told students: “One thing I often feel like saying when I go into schools and meet students is to be patient and to have very clear ideas about their passions,” adding, “And if they have dreams and passions, it’s important to cultivate them.”
AP said the tour’s approach extends beyond classroom programming, including social and faith-linked encounters meant to connect sporting experience to personal development and community values.
A torch tour through the archdiocese’s territories
The Ora Sport on Fire Tour also includes what it calls its own Olympic torch, described as a symbolic path intended to bring the Games’ spirit to participating institutions. AP reported that the torch has traveled through the diocese’s territories, visiting two pastoral zones per year.
As each deanery welcomed the torch, gatherings, prayer, and talks on Olympic values were held, the AP said. In Tradate, in northern Italy, the report said oratories posted on social media about children and adolescents transporting the torch and reflecting on its meaning. In Gallarate, AP reported that sports activities focused on inclusion, teaching young people how to recognize and respect differences and diverse abilities.
Paralympic athletes and local activities mark each deanery’s focus
AP reported that activities under the tour have varied from deanery to deanery while remaining tied to the upcoming Olympics. Some deaneries hosted sports-themed plays supervised by a theater company, while others ran film forums or large-scale sports activities.
To mark the launch of the tour’s third year, AP said Paralympic swimmer Alberto Amodeo appeared as a guest at a diocesan sports gathering in Abbiategrasso. The report said he recalled his achievements in both the Tokyo and Paris Paralympics and underlined how the Games bring together athletes of different ethnicities, adding: “These are beautiful results that will remain forever in my heart,” the AP reported.
Scale, access, and a sports-based message of respect and growth
The AP reported that, in Milan’s diocese, there are about 1,000 oratories, and that practically all have sports clubs, with some dating back 100 years. According to the report, Guidi said, “For many kids, adolescents and families, this is their only possibility to practice sports.”
AP also said Guidi described costs as a factor: most activities are offered at low cost, mainly thanks to volunteer work. He said programs connected to the tour keep three elements central—sport’s role in developing each person’s physical abilities, supporting socialization, and developing respect for one’s opponent.
In the AP report, Guidi said the effort proposes “a kind of growth that has the meaning of constant training of oneself and of one’s relationships” and includes “the possibility of learning from one’s mistakes.”