As the world prepares for the 2026 Winter Olympics and Paralympics in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, the Catholic Church in the host city has launched an initiative to ensure that amid the competitions and stress, athletes can find a place to pray and reflect.

At a press conference in Milan Jan. 23, the Archdiocese of Milan unveiled the launch of "For Each Other," a program that will coincide with the Feb. 6-22 Olympic Games and the March 6-15 Paralympic Games.

"For me, the aim of our contribution is to be against the banality of sport, meaning sport reduced to performance, to exaggerated competitiveness, to business, to idolatry," said Archbishop Mario Delpini of Milan.

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"Sport is good for people and not just for the excellent result achieved -- which is naturally one of the goals of the competitions -- but against banality. We want to say that people are made not only of a body that is perfect and capable of excellent performance but of a soul, of a relationship, of a capacity for sharing, of attention so that no one is left behind," he added.

The Vatican Dicastery for Culture and Education will also co-sponsor the initiative. In a message read at the conference, Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça, prefect of the dicastery, highlighted the important role the church plays in fostering an atmosphere of genuine sportsmanship.

The Church, he said, wants to contribute to the sports' world not by "denying the value of competition, but by guiding it so that it is not dominated by an individualistic mindset and instead is rather open to the dimension of the common good."

The archdiocese said the "For Each Other" will run from Jan. 29 to mid-March and will feature activities, performances and events hosted in parishes across Milan.

Cardinal Tolentino also said that during the initiative's Jan. 29 opening Mass, the "Cross of Sportspeople" will be formally entrusted to the archdiocese by Athletica Vaticana, the Holy See's sports association.

The cross, which was blessed by Pope Francis at the 2013 World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro, has been placed in chapels in the Olympic host cities of London in 2012 and Paris in 2024.

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According to the Vatican, "Athletica Vaticana will consign the 'Cross of Sportspeople' to the dioceses in whose territory the winter and summer Olympics and Paralympics will be held, from time to time, following the tradition of the Cross of the World Youth Days."

Archbishop Delpini will preside over the opening Mass concelebrated by Bishop Paul Tighe, secretary of the Vatican's Dicastery for Culture and Education.

At the heart of the activities will be the 11th-century Basilica of San Babila, where the opening Mass will take place and which will be known as the "Church of Athletes" throughout the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Sunday Masses will be held in various languages, including English, French, German and Italian, "to allow participation by members of the international delegations as well as by ordinary tourists in Milan for the Games," the archdiocese said.

The church will also be the starting point of the "Tour of Sports Values," which will count on the presence of some "13,000 young people from schools, youth and sports clubs in the diocese who have already signed up for the initiative.

Two local parishes will be known as "Values Villages," each one named after the values espoused in the Olympic Chart: excellence, friendship and respect, the archdiocese said.

Exhibitions, discussions with athletes, education workshops and theatrical performances will be held in each of the villages centered on the Olympic values.

Trained volunteers will accompany visitors for free on a "Paths of Beauty" tour, which includes stops at four historically significant churches in Milan's historic center.

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Expressing his "pride of being Milanese," Archbishop Delpini said that the "For Each Other" initiative shows that the city of Milan "is capable of surrounding the Olympic event with forms of solidarity, educational aspects, and accessibility of events for everyone.

"I am proud to be from Milan because, at least on our part, we will take care to ensure that it is an asset to the city that benefits people in their entirety," he said.