Lenten campaign 2026
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This article is updated to include the Pope's message after the midday Angelus of February 1:
Next Friday, the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympic Games will begin, followed by the Paralympic Games. I extend my best wishes to the organizers and all the athletes. These great sporting events send a powerful message of fraternity and rekindle hope for a world at peace.
This is also the meaning of the Olympic truce, an ancient custom that accompanies the Games. I hope that all those who care about peace among peoples and are in positions of authority will take this opportunity to make concrete gestures of détente and dialogue.
Original article:
May “these days of healthy competition contribute to building bridges between cultures and peoples, promoting welcoming, solidarity, and peace.” This is Leo XIV’s wish for the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, in a telegram published on January 29, 2026. The Vatican sent this message on the occasion of the presentation of the “Olympic cross” to the athletes, a few days before the opening of the event.
In this message signed by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, the Pope greets the participants in the welcome celebration that took place on Thursday in the church of San Babila, designated as the church of athletes during these Olympics. The Olympic and Paralympic Cross of Athletes has been brought to each city hosting the Olympic Games since 2012.
Leo XIV, himself a sports enthusiast who plays tennis regularly, expressed his hope that the Winter Olympics, which will take place in northern Italy from February 6 to 22, will inspire “feelings of friendship and fraternity.” He also encouraged a greater “awareness of the value of sports in the service of the integral development of the human person.”
The cross, presented in Milan by Athletica Vaticana — the Holy See's sports association — was made from 15 pieces of wood from various parts of the world, according to Vatican media reports, citing the Holy Land, China, Russia, and Africa.
Last June, a delegation from the Paris 2024 Olympic Games brought it to Rome as part of the sports jubilee, in the presence of Thomas Bach, then president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
