In Defense of Luce, The Vatican’s Gen Z Cartoon Mascot

As the Catholic Church gears up for its 2025 jubilee, the Vatican has unveiled a new cartoon mascot to represent its upcoming holy year: an anime figure named Luce. According to the church, Luce is meant to engage with “the pop culture so beloved by our young people.”

In response, Catholic Twitter has imploded, and Luce — the small anime girl with blue hair, a yellow raincoat, a rosary around her neck, and a walking staff — has ignited a fierce generational divide on the internet.

Young Catholics have embraced Luce, viewing her as a symbol of militant Christian devotion. Meanwhile, older Catholics have decried her as everything from an affront to logos, to ugly, and even demonic.

Let’s start with the satanic claims. No, Luce is not intended to be short for Lucifer. “Luce” means “light” in Italian. The symbolism behind her character is actually quite beautiful. Her yellow raincoat reflects both the Vatican flag and the idea of weathering life’s storms. Her muddy boots evoke the trials of a long journey, and her staff symbolizes the pilgrimage toward eternity.

Catholic podcaster Taylor Marshall has raised concerns about Luce’s designer, Italian artist Simone Legno, whose company has promoted LGBT “pride” month. Granted, the Vatican should have chosen another artist, especially given that Catholic tithes paid for this ad campaign. As Christians, we should respond by praying for Legno.

However, Luce herself has nothing to do with “pride” month. In fact, she has become an icon of holy zeal among young Catholics. Fan art depicts Luce alongside crusaders, rescuing babies from abortion butchers, and condemning heretics. In other words, young Catholics have made Luce based.

Critics have accused Luce’s multicolored rosary of symbolizing the LGBT rainbow. However, Luce’s rosary is not LGBT themed. It is the World Mission Rosary, created by Archbishop Fulton Sheen to symbolize each of the continents.

Making Christianity Accessible

Like many younger Catholics, I yearn for tradition in the church. I prefer the traditional Latin Mass, wear a chapel veil on Sundays — even at Novus Ordo services — and detest any attempts at “modernizing” the liturgy.

But Luce hasn’t been injected into the liturgy. She is instead part of the church’s longstanding tradition of evangelizing by meeting people where they are. As St. John Paul II said, “The Church has always had the duty of scrutinizing the signs of the times and of interpreting them in the light of the Gospel … she must be able to answer the ever-recurring questions which people ask about the meaning of this present life and of the life to come.”

Throughout history, Catholics have adeptly translated Christianity into terms accessible to pagan societies. St. Augustine of Canterbury reinterpreted the Anglo-Saxon symbol of light and imbued it with Christian meaning. He taught that Jesus was the “Light of the World,” a metaphor that connected with the Anglo-Saxon reverence for the sun and fire.

St. Francis Xavier encouraged local Japanese artisans to depict biblical stories and Christian symbols in a manner consistent with Japanese style. His efforts contributed to the emergence of nanban art, a genre that blended European Christian iconography with Japanese aesthetics. And Our Lady herself appeared to Juan Diego in the guise of an Aztec princess.

In today’s increasingly neo-pagan world, an anime mascot is both clever and, frankly, on-brand for the church’s evangelizing methods. Already, secular Japanese art circles are analyzing Luce’s symbolism and exploring the meaning of the rosary. That’s a win!

Rallying Traditional Catholics

Pope Francis has admittedly not championed traditional Catholics, particularly in the U.S. He remained silent when the FBI infiltrated our communities and smeared us as white supremacists. The pope has also criticized American Catholic traditionalists for allegedly “gagging” the church’s modernizing reforms.

It’s possible that critics of Luce are correct in suggesting that Pope Francis intended her to push the church in a less traditional direction. But if so, the plan has backfired spectacularly. Luce has instead become a rallying icon of traditional Catholicism for young people — fun, cute, and, yes, based.

In Christianity, light, Luce’s namesake, holds profound symbolic and spiritual significance. It represents God’s presence, purity, truth, and guidance, embodying Christ himself, who is the “Light of the World.” Luce is spreading Christ’s light in the internet world, a medium of illuminated screens. In essence, Luce truly is a befitting pilgrim of the internet.

Anime’s aesthetics are very prevalent within young, traditional Catholic circles online. Many older Catholics find anime strange or even wicked. Yes, some anime is certainly problematic, as is most Western media as well. But despite being largely secular, anime often conveys traditional values Western pop culture has abandoned.

Renowned anime creator Hayao Miyazaki, for instance, is a movie maker capable of creating heroines who save the day not by acting like men but through distinctly feminine strength. Shows like “Demon Slayer” emphasize masculine self-sacrifice and familial devotion, as the protagonist Tanjiro consistently risks his life to protect his sister. Anime is neither a malevolent art form nor a poor medium for Catholic expression.

The church is at its best when it finds beauty in the world and elevates it to reflect divine glory.

I understand why older generations may struggle to see Luce’s appeal. But that’s okay. Luce is designed for the young, and as long as she draws people closer to Christ, she is worth defending.

Evita Duffy-Alfonso is a contributor to The Federalist and the host of “Bongino Report Early Edition with Evita.” Follow her on Twitter and Instagram at @evitaduffy_1.