The Vatican has debuted a new anime-style mascot for children ahead of its Jubilee 2025 celebrations. Wide-eyed Luce, whose name is the Latin word for “light,” wears a yellow hooded raincoat with a beaded rosary and carries a staff in a contemporary twist on the event’s theme of “Pilgrims of Hope.”
Archbishop Rino Fisichella, the Vatican’s chief organizer of the Jubilee, unveiled the official mascot earlier this week during a press conference about next year’s cultural program. He said the mascot will guide younger audiences through the festivities and that she was “created from the desire to enter into the world of pop culture, so beloved by our young people.”
He added that he hoped she would help the Vatican “speak to younger generations about the theme of hope, which is more central than ever in the evangelical message.”
The mascot is the creation of Italian artist Simone Legno, who is known for Japanese-inspired kawaii designs via his company tokidoki. Among various details that mark Luce out as a devout young pilgrim are the sparkling scallop shells in her eyes that recall the emblem of the Camino de Santiago, a network of pilgrimage routes around Western Europe.
At the press conference it was also revealed that the mascot’s raincoat and muddy boots allude to an arduous journey ahead, but one that the young pilgrim faces with an upbeat and intrepid attitude.
On October 30, Luce was debuted at Lucca Comics and Games, a popular convention for video games, comic books, and fantasy in Tuscany. There, the Dicastery for Evangelization hosted “Luce and Friends,” which introduced visitors to more characters from the mascot’s world including her pals Fe, Xin, Sky, and her dog Santino. Luce will also take the global stage in the Holy See pavilion at the next World Expo taking place in Osaka in 2025.
The plucky pilgrim has divided opinion online. “I think it is a deeply evil symbol and should not be viewed,” reads one particularly irate comment on X. “The name Luce is very close to Lucifer and she carries a witch’s accessory.”
Other online commentators praised the Catholic Church’s ability to stay relevant through the medium of art across the centuries. “Rome has the attention of the world again, as always and as it should be,” some another X user. “We have taken the memesphere. Who would have thought the Vatican’s major P.R. victory this year will be our anime girl mascot Luce?”
Archbishop Rino Fisichella presents the Vatican’s official Jubilee mascot during a press conference in the Holy See Press Office on October 28th, 2024. Photo: Grzegorz Galazka/ Archivio Grzegorz Galazka/ Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images.
“As a former art historian, I’m obsessed with this. Bring on the new era of the Vatican finding very specific religious art,” said one post on Reddit. “I want neo-catholicism anime Jesus art to talk about. I wanna see Luce everywhere with friends representing other Abrahamic faiths.”
“I grew up in my hometown Rome in a Catholic family, where I learned the principles of a faith grounded in generosity and respect for others,” the artist Simone Legno wrote on Instagram. “I hope that the pilgrim Luce and her traveling friends can represent the sentiments that resonate in the hearts of the younger generations.”
The Jubilee is a special holy year in the Vatican calendar that typically happens every 25 years. The Vatican is expected to receive some 30 million pilgrims between December 24, 2024 and January 6, 2026. Among the cultural events in store will be the exhibition of Marc Chagall’s painting White Crucifixion (1938), on loan from the Art Institute of Chicago, at Rome’s Museo del Corso from November 27 to January 27, 2025.