Milan’s Archdiocese of Milan and a choir from the region held a pop music concert inside Sant’Antonio church days before athletes with disabilities are scheduled to take center stage at the Winter Paralympics in Cortina. Organizers said the event was meant to translate the Paralympic moment into a practical message of harmony and inclusion—particularly for people with disabilities—rather than treating disability participation as something separate.
The concert drew on a Gospel image, and the choir’s performance at Sant’Antonio included the project’s stated themes of belonging. The Terzo Tempo choir, made up of around 70 teenagers and adults from the nearby city of Abbiategrasso, traveled to Milan for the Feb. 18 program titled “Like Yeast in the Dough.”
Rev. Stefano Guidi, who heads the Archdiocese of Milan’s Service for Oratories and Sport, said the Games should not be seen as something that passes over people’s heads. “The Olympics and the Paralympics are not something that simply passes over our heads, but something that also touches our lives,” Guidi said.
Church officials said the concert formed part of a wider archdiocese effort to seize the Olympics and Paralympics moment to impart Christian values. Milan’s Catholic Church created a special branch in 2021 focused on raising awareness of inclusion, with work routed through local parishes and communities.
Rev. Mauro Santoro, who leads the archdiocese office alongside 13 volunteers, said the goal is to avoid segregation-by-design. “If we focus on organizing things only for people with disabilities, we risk segregation,” Santoro said, adding that his team tries instead to bring people together through ordinary parish life, “children’s catechism, sports, the simplest activities.”
In that approach, organizers described oratories—parish spaces where young people gather after school for sports and recreation—as a central setting for inclusion work. Santoro said training to involve people with disabilities and discussions about values linked to the Paralympics are also part of that outreach.
The concert reflected that mission through its music selection and participant mix. Santoro said there are testimonies from athletes, including Paralympians, and he described the real challenge as changing the “game” so everyone can play well and participate.
Choir director Silvia Gatti said the Terzo Tempo group tried to choose songs that emphasize commitment and the desire to achieve, rather than focusing only on results. She also said the repertoire aimed to reach different communities, including music that incorporated a Congolese samba alongside performances in Italian and English.
The choir’s motto is “Where singing is unity, passion, freedom and joy,” and the group said it welcomes participants from all backgrounds while encouraging children to sing with older adults. Organizers also said the choir has addressed themes such as peace and opposition to violence against women in earlier performances, underscoring a community-focused mission.