Commentary 24/11/05 Luce and her friends, and our own pilgrimage

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Luce and her friends, and our own pilgrimage

The use of a cultural form other than those found in the West is a positive development

Luce, Fe, Xin, and Sky, the anime pilgrim mascot unveiled by the Vatican for Jubilee 2025 to engage pop-culture youth. (Photo: catholicherald.co.uk)

By Ruben C. Mendoza 

Published: November 05, 2024 04:08 AM GMT

Updated: November 05, 2024 04:10 AM GMT

The Vatican recently unveiled the 2025 Jubilee mascot, Luce, together with her friends, Fe, Xin, and Sky, and her dog, Santino, and guardian angel.

According to Archbishop Rino Fisichella, the chief organizer of the Jubilee Year, they are designed to engage “the pop culture so beloved by our young people.”

Significantly, the Vatican, as I write this, is participating for the first time in the Lucca Comics and Games, the largest comic-con in Europe, where there is a space for Luca and her friends.

Fisichella hopes that the Vatican’s participation in it “will allow us to speak to younger generations about the theme of hope, which is more central than ever in the evangelical message.”

The figure of Luce, which means light, is rich in symbolism. She is designed as a pilgrim, with a raincoat that has the color of the Vatican flag, muddy boots and a walking staff.

Do remember that Pope Francis calls on Christians to be “pilgrims of hope” who will experience the Jubilee as “a moment of genuine, personal encounter with the Lord Jesus.”

Not surprisingly, the logo of the Jubilee Year is on her coat. She also wears a rosary around her neck, a symbol of prayer which of course is integral to one’s Christian journey. In addition, she appears to have the reflection of scallop shells in her eyes, a symbol of the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage.

Luce apparently received mixed reactions from people. For instance, one posted on X, “Once the Church inspired the young with noble models like St. Dominic Savio and his motto ‘Death rather son.’ Now we have… whatever the hell this ‘Luce’ thing is. Infantilizing the young with a dumbed-down version of Catholicism does them a disservice.”

On a positive note, another wrote on X, “What is with everyone hating on the little anime mascot? It’s cute and fun. Not everything is geared towards Catholic adults, y’all know that right?”

Another one claims, “I am not even Catholic but I love Luce.” When I myself first saw Luce, my initial reaction was to ask why she was Caucasian looking. I was afraid that it was a form of cultural imperialism, this time [unwittingly?] promoted by the Vatican. However, when I read that it was created by tokidoki, a Japanese-inspired lifestyle brand in Italy, then, everything about her appearance made sense since anime and manga figures are similar to her appearance. One only needs to look at the characters of ONE PIECE, Dragon Balland Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba.”

Without really saying what it was, I asked my teenage son to look at the picture of Luce. I had the intention of testing her appeal to someone whom I think has the sensibilities of an ordinary teenager.

After taking a look at it, he smiled and gave a thumbs up. That wasn’t surprising since my son likes both anime and manga. Luce appeals to his taste and I think by extension, to those of other teenagers.

I read a commentary that criticized Luce’s head size, but my son who is familiar with the genre knew better. That is also why, I think, Luce and her friends, would appeal to the youth, many of whom are familiar with the Japanese style of rendering their characters.

I know that one reaction to Luce is her being white. But knowing that manga and anime ordinarily represent their characters as Caucasian-looking, perhaps we can be more understanding of why she looks that way. The disproportionality of her body parts is also explained by that.

The use of a cultural form other than those found in the West is a positive development.

The move by the Vatican recognizes the popularity of anime and manga, and more importantly, is an acknowledgment that cultures other than those in the West can represent the Christian faith.

It does not surprise me that Catholics who are not exposed to and ignorant of the richness of other cultures, and ethnocentric in mindset decry the choice to design the Jubilee’s mascot in that manner.

One needs to remember that for Vatican II, the Church “is bound to no particular form of human culture” (Gaudium et Spes, 42). Hence, an Asian art form can be used to design the mascot.

In order to better affirm the catholicity of the Church, instead of focusing simply on Luce, we can also highlight her companions.

To avoid the wrong impression that the mascot privileges whiteness and that we are alone in our journey, a focus on her other companions is equally important. After all, in our Christian journey, we travel with our fellow pilgrims. One pilgrim is not more important than the other.

While all of us embark on our unique journey, struggling and coping with the vicissitudes of life, we cannot and ought not do it alone. Unlike Cain who refused to be responsible for his brother, we are actually our sister’s and brother’s keepers. We need one another to grow in our faith life.

The Vatican ought to undertake more creative initiatives in making the Christian faith more meaningful to the world, especially to the youth of today. The design of Luce, Fe, Xin, and Sky is a step in the right direction. Their group of friends will hopefully be instruments in bringing the light of the Gospel to all the peoples of the world in all their particularities.

*The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official editorial position of UCA News.