The Vatican Dropped a Mascot and We Vatican't Believe It — Let's Meet Luce!

Unfortunately, the Catholic Church is a bit of a sticky wicket, what with all the sexual abuse allegations and homophobic rhetoric it can't seem to escape. Despite that, most of us can agree that they certainly know how to put on a beautiful ceremony and hold it in a stunning building. Obviously, few places are more aesthetically pleasing than Vatican City, which is more or less the Pope's lair. Housed within that sovereign territory is the Vatican Palace, the Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter's Basilica.

Believe it or not, Vatican City can also get a little weird. For example, Pope Stephen VI once put his predecessor on trial. Here's the strange part, Pope Formosus was already dead when this happened. Before you ask, his body was exhumed for these legal proceedings. Clearly that's a pretty dark story. Let's fast forward several centuries to October 2024, when the Vatican unveiled its own mascot named Luce. Here's what we know.

According to The Catholic World Report, the Vatican has gifted the world with a mascot to honor the 2025 jubilee (more on this in a moment). The adorable cartoon is a little girl named Luce, who sports a yellow raincoat and mud-stained boots and wears a pilgrim's cross. Luce actually means "light" in Italian which is good because she's meant to "guide young pilgrims toward hope and faith with her trusty dog Santino at her side."

Reflected in Luce's comically large eyes are shells, which are a nod to "the scallop shell of the Camino de Santiago, an emblem of the pilgrimage journey," reported the outlet. Archbishop Rino Fisichella, the Vatican’s chief organizer for the jubilee, said Luce is meant to engage with the youth by way of a symbol that resembles something out of pop culture.

Thankfully Luce is not alone. She comes equipped with friends, all of whom were designed by Simone Legno, the Italian co-founder of the pop culture brand tokidoki. Fe, Xin, and Sky are also clad in brightly-colored raincoats which represent "journeying through life's storms." Their dirty boots symbolize a "long and difficult journey" while the staff they carry is meant to illustrate the "pilgrimage toward eternity."

The jubilee typically occurs every 25 years and is a "special holy year of grace and pilgrimage in the Catholic Church." The theme of this jubilee is Pilgrims of Hope and begins on Christmas Eve 2024. Per the Associated Press, this "Holy Year is a centuries-old tradition of the faithful making pilgrimages to Rome to visit the tombs of Saints Peter and Paul, and receiving indulgences for the forgiveness of their sins in the process."

Also during this time, roughly 4 billion euros ($4.3 billion) in public funds is made available for public works projects in Rome. "In a beautiful city, you live better," Archbishop Fisichella told the outlet. "Rome will become an even more beautiful city, because it will be ever more at the service of its people, pilgrims and tourists who will come."

In May 2024, Pope Francis laid out his vision for the upcoming year of hope. Standing in St. Peter's Basilica he said, "Hope is needed by God’s creation, gravely damaged and disfigured by human selfishness. Hope is needed by those peoples and nations who look to the future with anxiety and fear." Here's hoping Luce helps lead the way.