Italian archdiocese welcomes Vatican ‘Sports Cross’ ahead of 2026 Winter Olympics

The Vatican “Sports Cross” arrived at the Basilica of San Babila in Milan on Thursday evening, one week ahead of the opening of the Feb. 6–22 Winter Olympic Games in Milan-Cortina, Italy.

Since 2012, the Vatican has entrusted the wooden cross designed and created by British artist Jon Cornwall to dioceses hosting the Summer and Winter Olympics.

“It’s an important gesture,” Bishop Paul Tighe, secretary of the Vatican Dicastery for Culture and Education, told EWTN News reporter Paola Arriaza Flynn. “It’s saying something about the Church’s interest and involvement with the world of sport.”

“We want to celebrate the human spirit that expresses itself in so many ways, including in forms of faith,” he added.

During the Jan. 29 welcoming Mass for the “Sports Cross” — also known as the “Cross of Athletes” — Archbishop Mario Delpini of the Diocese of Milan read a message from Pope Leo XIV expressing the pontiff’s hope that this year’s international games will be an occasion for renewed “friendship and fraternity” among peoples.

The evening Mass celebration took place on the eve of the anniversary of the “Olympic Truce,” an ancient Greek tradition that was revived in 1991 to promote peace and allow the safe travel of athletes and spectators during the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

“What we’re trying to do is to invite people, during this time when they’re here for sport, to think about the things that give purpose and meaning in life,” Tighe told EWTN News. “Many values are exemplified in sport.”

“Pope Leo has, from the beginning, talked about the importance of peace,” the Vatican secretary for culture and education said. “Sport speaks a common language … I think peace comes from that sense of people giving their best, giving it in service of others, and working for the good of all.”

The celebration for the presentation of the Sports Cross at the Basilica of San Babila was the first and most significant moment of the “For Each Other” project, promoted by the Archdiocese of Milan.

Throughout the Milan-Cortina games, the archdiocese will offer various educational, cultural, and sporting initiatives, particularly aimed at young people, in different venues across the city.