I love Luce

 (CNA NEWS) — The Vatican introduced an anime-style mascot named Luce to represent Catholic pilgrims in the 2025 Jubilee year on Monday, Oct. 28 — and within a week, the character has already become a viral internet sensation.

Vatican’s anime-style mascot Luce goes viral on internet with Catholic memes, fan art

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Luce's "pilgrim friends" in the above picture are Fe, Xin, and Sky, and Santino the dog.  Also featured are a guardian angel and a dove, signifying the Holy Spirit. If you enlarge her image, you can see the pulgrim's scallop shell in Luce's eyes

"In less than seven days, hundreds of memes and fan art renditions of Luce (pronounced Lu-Chay) popped up on social media websites such as Facebook, X, Reddit, and TikTok and have been circulating the platforms. "

"The character has become particularly popular with Catholic meme accounts and groups but also has a presence in non-Catholic spaces, such as with amateur anime artists, Protestant meme accounts, and some secular and political meme accounts. "

"Luce's symbolism:  Luce, which is Italian for “light,” is a blue-haired mascot who wears a rosary around her neck and a yellow raincoat that is meant to symbolize journeying through life’s storms and reflect the color of the Vatican flag. She wears green muddy boots that represent a long and difficult journey and carries a staff meant to symbolize the pilgrimage toward eternity."

...The Vatican’s Dicastery for Evangelization commissioned the creation of the character, which was designed by Italian artist Simone Legno, who owns the company tokidoki, which creates products with Japanese-inspired designs. Archbishop Rino Fisichella, the Vatican’s chief organizer for the jubilee, unveiled the mascot during a news conference." 

...Thomas Graf, the social media manager for Catholic Answers, wrote in an article on Thursday that he worried at first that the character would be a failed attempt to “try to make Church cool and relevant.” However, he notes it was ultimately embraced by some Catholics within all age groups.

“Luce is undeniably adorable,” Graf wrote. “Maybe you disagree, but I have to hand it to the creators: They nailed the look of childlike faith and innocence. And the pilgrimage symbols embedded in her character — muddy boots, Camino de Santiago shells in her eyes, pilgrim’s cross, and World Mission rosary — are subtle. Nothing evokes the overbearing ‘Jesus is COOL, kids!!’ lunkheadedness of, say, VBS mascots.”

"Christians who are not Catholic have also jumped on the Luce thread to create their own versions of the character. One post in the Anglicanism subreddit developed an Anglican version of Luce with symbolism that represents their own denomination. Lutherans on Facebook and X have done the same, making Lutheran versions of Luce and claiming she converted — prompting strong responses from Catholics reclaiming the character. Some Orthodox Christians have made similar posts."

But some people never met a parade they couldn't rain on:

"Traditionalist Catholic theologian Peter Kwasniewski wrote on X that “even if Luce is not ‘evil,’ the fact that she’s kitschy, cutesy, cringey, merchy, and childish is already offensive to the religion of the Logos.”

And, "...Edward Feser, a Catholic philosopher and professor at Pasadena City College, also criticized the character on X: “Infantilizing the young with a dumbed down version of Catholicism does them a disservice.”

But over all the reaction has been positive:  "The Vatican intends to keep moving forward with the mascot. Luce made an appearance at the Lucca Comics and Games convention in Tuscany, Italy, this past weekend and will also appear at the Expo 2025 in Osaka, Japan, next year."