Vatican announces anime girl mascot

The Vatican in Rome has announced its official anime mascot for the 2025 Jubilee. I looked it up to make sure it was real. Her name is "Luce"—has she not the beauteous semblance? The light in her eyes makes me think of a child's hands raised in protest.

Archbishop Rino Fisichella, the Vatican's chief organizer for the jubilee, described the mascot as part of the Vatican's goal to engage with "the pop culture so beloved by our young people."

The mascot will debut this week at the Lucca Comics and Games, Italy's celebrated convention for all things comics, video games, and fantasy, where the Vatican's Dicastery for Evangelization will host a space dedicated to "Luce and Friends."

It will be the first time that a Vatican dicastery participates in a comics convention. Fisichella, who serves as the the pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization's section for the new evangelization, said he hopes taking part in the convention "will allow us to speak to younger generations about the theme of hope, which is more central than ever in the evangelical message."

Cardinal Fisichella wonders what on Earth the prelate meant when he said "hot glue." Photo: Catholic News Service

Here she is with her friends.