As the Catholic Church and the Vatican have to deal with controversy after controversy, it came as a surprise to many when they released a new mascot for the church. And yes, churches can apparently have mascots. Luce, meaning light in Italian, is a short blue haired girl dressed in a raincoat and boots and drawn in a Chibi, an art style of short characters with big heads and short limbs. The character is going to be fully launched during the Church’s 2025 Jubilee year which is meant to symbolize hope, forgiveness and holy pilgrimages. However, during the first week of November, she will make her first official appearance during the Lucca Comic and Video Games Convention in Lucca, Italy. She will also appear as the Vatican’s mascot at Expo 2025 in Osaka, Japan promoting a theme of “Beauty Brings Hope.”
Her design is meant to appeal to the younger audience of the Catholic Church, one that grew up and continues to watch shows like One Piece, Demon Slayer and other cartoons using an anime design. Despite this, she is packed with symbolism harkening to many different ideas or symbols of the religion as a whole. Her blue hair is indicative of the blue vail the Virgin Mary wore, her raincoat is meant to symbolize an act of dealing with storms ahead, her muddy boots is to show humility, she wears a rosary around her neck and the sea shells in her eyes are a symbol of the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage with the shells showing the way to the cathedral.
The results of this have accomplished what the Vatican hoped she would; however she has also brought unwanted backlash to their decision. Many older Catholics rejected the new character, finding her childish and unneeded in the Church’s iconography. The fact that the Church already has a universal symbol, the cross, and many saints and icons in the church’s history is one argument against the new symbol. Along with this, her looks appear to be not serious enough for the church, which has had a long history of more realistic art in an effort to glorify their icons. There has even been a push recently that her name is in association with the devil itself, as Luce being a shortened version of Lucifer; however this claim has been debunked.
Despite all of this backlash, the overall reaction has been relatively positive, as her cute looks and recognizable art style have made her a hit with the younger audiences. On multiple social media sites, there has been an explosion of fan art depicting the young girl ranging from comedic art to their own renditions of the character. Many have also fought back in her defense, citing ideas like the fact she is meant for the young Catholics not the older one and pointing to the success of this with attracting many to get vocal with their support of the church. To this point, it is clear through the art and the vocalization of many Catholics that Luce has succeeded and is beloved in many social circles around the internet. In turn, this has begun to turn around the Catholic Church’s appearance globally, along with the many reforms brought about by Pope Francis as a means to move away from past controversy.
