Milan church concert strikes a chord for inclusion ahead of Winter Paralympics

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Milan church concert strikes a chord for inclusion ahead of Winter Paralympics

2026-02-24 14:12 Last Updated At：14:20

MILAN (AP) — Days ahead of the Winter Paralympics, when disabled athletes will take center stage at the Milan Cortina Games, a choir from northern Italy performed a pop music concert inside Milan’s Sant’Antonio church, calling for harmony and inclusion — particularly of those with disabilities.

Around 70 teenagers and adults in the Terzo Tempo choir traveled from the neighboring city Abbiategrasso for their Feb. 18 performance, titled “Like Yeast in the Dough.” It drew on a Gospel image that reflects the project’s spirit: a discreet presence that helps anyone rise from within.

The choir’s concert in Milan formed part of the archdiocese’s strategy to seize the Olympic and Paralympic moment to impart Christian values.

“The Olympics and the Paralympics are not something that simply passes over our heads, but something that also touches our lives,” said the Rev. Stefano Guidi, who heads the Archdiocese of Milan’s Service for Oratories and Sport.

Milan’s Catholic Church created in 2021 a special branch that focuses on raising awareness of inclusion. Its work stretches through local parishes and communities, encouraging welcoming environments for everyone, disabled and non-disabled alike.

“If we focus on organizing things only for people with disabilities, we risk segregation,” said the Rev. Mauro Santoro, who leads the office alongside 13 volunteers. “Instead, we try to bring everyone together — children’s catechism, sports, the simplest activities — because this is true inclusion.”

The Catholic Church’s work with young people in Italy largely relies on oratories, parish spaces where children and teenagers gather after school for sports and recreational activities. In these spaces, Santoro said, training to involve people with disabilities and discussions regarding values connected to the Paralympics take place, as well.

“There are testimonies from athletes, including Paralympians,” he said. “The real challenge is to change the game so everyone can play well and participate.”

This goal was reflected in the choir’s concert at Sant’Antonio. The repertoire was in Italian, English and included a Congolese samba — a choice aimed at diversifying and conveying values associated with the Olympic spirit.

“We tried to choose songs that speak about the desire to achieve something and about constant commitment because that is what really matters beyond the result,” said the choir’s director, Silvia Gatti. “These are values that athletes believe in, but they should concern everyone.”

The choir, whose motto is “Where singing is unity, passion, freedom and joy,” welcomes participants from all backgrounds and encourages children to sing with people in their 70s.

In previous performances, the choir has addressed themes such as peace and opposition to violence against women, underscoring its community-focused mission.

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

Northeast US digs out from brutal storm that disrupted flights and canceled school

NEW YORK (AP) — Neighbors, government workers and a powerful railroad snow-clearing machine nicknamed “Darth Vader” scrambled to dig out much of the northeastern United States from a brutal and — in some areas — record-breaking storm that blanketed the region with snow and resulted in thousands of flight cancellations.

But as the snow moved northward and tapered off in other areas Tuesday, forecasters warned that another storm could be right around the corner.

Monday’s storm that meteorologists are calling the strongest in a decade dumped more than 2 feet (61 centimeters) of snow in parts of the Northeast. By Tuesday, roads were beginning to reopen, mass transportation was coming back online in some cities and power had returned for some of the hundreds of thousands who had lost electricity in Massachusetts, New Jersey, Delaware and Rhode Island.

In New York City, which canceled classed Monday, Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced that schools would reopen for in person learning on Tuesday, raising questions about how feasible that is with snow still piled along sidewalks.

Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella said school should remain closed, while Michael Mulgrew, president of the United Federation of Teachers, described the situation as “a big mess.”

“There's going to be low attendance of students. You're going to have low attendance of staff because people don't know if they can travel, if they can get to schools," he said.

Spokespersons for Mamdani didn’t respond to an email seeking comment but his schools chief, Chancellor Kamar Samuels, said in a post on X, that they were "confident in our decision to reopen."

Philadelphia switched to online learning Monday and Tuesday. Districts on Long Island and elsewhere in the New York suburbs said they would cancel school again Tuesday.

The National Weather Service said it's tracking another storm that could bring more snow to the region later this week.

While the new storm is not expected to be as strong, even a few extra inches of snow on top of hard-hit areas could make cleanup more difficult, said Frank Pereira, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in College Park, Maryland.

“Any additional snow at this point is probably not going to be welcome,” he said.

The weather service referred to Monday’s storm as a “classic bomb cyclone/nor’easter off the Northeast coast.” A bomb cyclone happens when a storm’s pressure falls by a certain amount within a 24-hour period, occurring mainly in the fall and winter when frigid Arctic air can reach the south and clash with warmer temperatures.

More than 2,000 flights in and out of the United States were canceled Tuesday, according to the flight tracking website FlightAware. Most of the cancellations involved airports in New York, New Jersey and Boston.

Rhode Island’s T.F. Green International Airport paused its airport operations Monday as it dealt with nearly 38 inches (97 centimeters) of snow, according to the Weather Service, breaking a record set in 1978.

Central Park in New York City recorded 19 inches (48 centimeters) of snow. Warwick, Rhode Island, exceeded 3 feet (91 centimeters), topping the nation so far. The highest wind gust of 83 mph (134 kph) was recorded in Nantucket, with hurricane-force gusts seen all over Cape Cod.

New York, Philadelphia and other cities, as well as several states, declared emergencies.

The Boston Globe management called off printing its daily newspaper for the first time in its more than 150-year history because snow and winds kept staff from safely getting to its printing plant, the newspaper said in an article on its website.

In the New York City-area, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said Monday evening that subway lines are mostly operational after earlier delays, with the exception of the hard-hit borough of Staten Island, where rail service remained suspended.

Commuter rail service to suburbs to the north and east of the city were expected to resume limited service ahead of the Tuesday morning commute, the MTA said.

Christa Prince and two others were out in Brooklyn on Monday afternoon with shovels and an electric snowblower.

“We’re just making a path for this car," Prince said. "It’s not our car but you know, we’re just doing our neighbor a kind deed."

Izaguirre reported from Albany, New York. Associated Press writers Mike Catalini in Morrisville, Pennsylvania; Mark Kennedy and Mike Sisak in New York; Darlene Superville in Washington; Susan Haigh in Hartford, Connecticut; Christopher Weber in Los Angeles; Philip Marcelo in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed.