Luce the Vatican's Anime Mascot

About

Luce the Vatican's Anime Mascot refers to a mascot unveiled by the Vatican in late October 2024. The blue-haired, yellow coat-wearing character was designed by Italian artist Simone Legno and was intended to appeal to a younger Catholic crowd. Luce was unveiled alongside a host of other characters named Fe, Xin and Sky, also dressed in bright jackets. The announcement of the anime mascot inspired memes and fan art featuring Luce.

Origin

On October 28th, 2024, the Vatican posted a video announcing "Luce" to its YouTube^[1] news channel, gathering over 40,000 views in a day. The blue-haired, yellow-coat-wearing mascot can be seen holding a stick, inspired by Catholic pilgrims. Luce also has a pet dog named Santino, and friends named Fe, Xin and Sky.

The X / Twitter^[2] account @CatholicTV made a post about the mascot's unveiling on October 28th, writing, "The Vatican has unveiled the official mascot of the Holy Year 2025: Luce (Italian for Light). Archbishop Fisichella says the mascot was inspired by the Church's desire 'to live even within the pop culture so beloved by our youth.'" The post gathered over 13 million views and 60,000 likes in a day.

A number of other characters were released alongside Luce, all of whom were created by Italian artist Simone Legno and his lifestyle brand Tokidoki. The artist posted an Instagram^[4] carousel post about the characters on October 28th, 2024, gathering over 5,000 likes in a day.

Spread

4chan's^[7] /a/ board discussed the news and mascot reveal on October 28th, 2024, with one user writing, "The Church vs Satan Isekai when?"

Several internet users reacted to the Vatican unveiling an "anime" inspired mascot, with X^[3] user @Pinesap3wasc posting an image of Luce's character sheet with the caption, "The Vatican now has the power of God and anime on its side," gathering over 14,000 likes in a day.

Several internet users also posted fan art of Luce soon after she was unveiled, including X user @SwissRifle^[5] on October 28th, who gathered over 11,000 upvotes in a day on a piece of art titled, "REPENT!" and @hyxpk,^[6] who gathered over 39,000 likes in a similar timeframe.

Backlash

Some Catholics pointed to Legno and Tokidoki's promotion of Pride merchandise in response to Luce's release, including journalist and writer @MLJHaynes,^[8] who wrote, "It's designed by Tokidoki creator Simone Legno, who highlights his Italian Catholic heritage. His company promotes Pride month."

Meanwhile, X^[9] user @WASPapist posted a fake Wikipedia column joking about Catholic infighting over Luce, gathering over 2,000 likes in a day.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References