Vatican Chooses A Cartoon Character For Jubilee Year
The Vatican has announced that 2025 will be a Jubilee Year, which happens every 25 years. The theme for Jubilee 2025 is “Pilgrims of Hope.” The year is special in the Catholic Church, a time for forgiveness, reconciliation, and renewal. The year represents a time to repent, forgive, and renew a focus on spirituality.
“Jubilee” comes from the Hebrew word yobel, which means “ram’s horn.” In the Bible, the Jubilee Year was a time to cancel debts, free slaves, and restore land to the landless. The first Jubilee year in the Roman Catholic Church was 1300 AD.
All of that is commendable, and in this day and age, anything that makes a person pause and reflect on spirituality is a good thing. Still, the Vatican seems to have its values misplaced. Its announcement stated that it would be a year of hope for a world suffering the impacts of war, the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the climate crisis. Two out of the three, the Covid “Plandemic” and the climate crisis, are fallacies that are worshipped by the woke crowd. Note there was no mention of the transgender mockery of science, biology, and reality or the outrageous acceptance of fetal homicide through abortion.
Not only is the Catholic church missing an opportunity to spotlight real issues, but they seem to be playing another woke, politically correct card by unveiling a cartoon character to be the face of the Jubilee year.
The mascot called “Luce,” which means “light” in Italian, is being used to supposedly engage a younger audience. 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 that is so beloved by young people.”
At a Vatican press conference yesterday, Fisichella spoke next to a plastic figurine of Luce. He described Luce’s shining eyes as “a symbol of the hope of the heart.”
He mentioned that Luce will be the face of the Holy See’s pavilion at Expo 2025 in Osaka, Japan. She will embody the pavilion’s theme, “Beauty Brings Hope,” alongside Caravaggio’s painting, “The Entombment of Christ,” which will be temporarily loaned from the Vatican Museums for the expo.
Simone Legno, the Italian co-founder of the pop culture brand Tokidoki, designed Luce and her “pilgrim friends” Fe, Xin, and Sky, each dressed in brightly colored jackets.
Legno, who has a lifelong love for Japanese pop culture, expressed his hope that “Luce can embody the sentiments that resonate within younger generations.”
“I am extremely grateful to the Dicastery for Evangelization for opening its doors to pop culture as well.”
Dressed in a yellow raincoat, mud-stained boots, and a pilgrim’s cross, Luce is on a mission to guide young pilgrims toward hope and faith, accompanied by her loyal dog, Santino. The shells in her eyes shimmer, reminiscent of the scallop shell symbolizing the Camino de Santiago, which represents the pilgrimage journey.
The yellow sailor’s raincoat symbolizes the Vatican flag and the journey through life’s storms. The mascot’s muddy boots represent a long and challenging journey, while her staff symbolizes the pilgrimage toward eternity.
The mascot will debut at Lucca Comics and Games, Italy’s renowned comics, video games, and fantasy convention, this week. The Vatican’s Dicastery for Evangelization will host a dedicated space titled “Luce and Friends.”
This will be the first time a Vatican dicastery participates in a comics convention. Fisichella, the pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization’s section for new evangelization, expressed hope that this involvement will allow them to communicate the theme of hope to younger generations, which is more essential than ever in the evangelical message.
I’m all for expanding Christian outreach, but I have questioned this Pope’s decisions and stances on many things. In my opinion, this seems childish and will do nothing to generate new followers. Spirituality is not a gimmick, and no one will understand the meaning behind a cartoon wearing a yellow raincoat with scallop shells in her eyes.
The Vatican is supposed to avoid politics, but this Pope embraces leftist ideals. This seems like an excuse to take the easy way out rather than addressing difficult issues, which are definitely a higher priority. Also, by not addressing things that are obviously against Christian values, the Church will not alienate the self-righteous left.
Cartoons are great; my personal favorite is Foghorn Leghorn. Maybe I’ll suggest using him instead of Luce. He’s not subtle, always speaks his mind, and is never devious—something the left and apparently the Vatican struggle with.
