2025 marks the Holy Year, or Jubilee, in Catholic culture. The Catholic Jubilee is a time of remission of sins and debts and holy pilgrimage. With this, the Catholic Church needs a mascot to represent the Jubilee and its message of devotion, perseverance, and solidarity amongst worldwide Catholics. However, the mascot in question is not what you might expect from a religious group, let alone the Catholic church themselves.

Spoiler: it’s an anime girl!

You heard that right; the mascot for the Catholic Jubilee is a cute cartoon girl by the name of Luce, meaning “light” in Italian. Luce was designed by Simone Legno, the designer behind the tokidoki brand. She dons muddy boots, bright blue hair, a walking stick, a missionary’s rosary, and a bright yellow raincoat with the Jubilee logo on it. Since her debut, Luce has received overwhelmingly positive feedback and admiration on social media, especially TikTok, where many fans share their love for Luce through drawing fanart. 

Russet Sounthala (11) is one of many who appreciates the design of Luce from an artist’s perspective, having found out about her on TikTok. He describes Luce as different from what one might expect from the Catholic Church, yet still cute and designed with good intention. 

“I think Luce, as a concept, is really interesting,” Sounthala says. “The significance behind giving religion a mascot [who is] a small anime girl is silly and that’s gained it a lot of traction around the internet because of how silly it is.”

Cindy Chong (10) is another Kalani student that adores Luce, also having found out about her through social media. As a devout Christian, Chong describes her as “cute” and “fun.”

“She is adorable, and in my opinion, a great approach,” Chong says. “I feel like it can attract a wider range of people and break the stereotypical image of religion.”

Anna DeMarco (11), a Latter-day Saint, also has a positive view on Luce.

“I think it’s really cute,” DeMarco says. “I think it’s kind of clever. I think it’s fun to market yourself in like a more fun way, and. I guess a part of that is trying to market yourself towards younger audiences.”

Religion, especially Catholicism, is widely known for being one of the more serious topics to discuss. Sounthala shares that with Luce, this topic can either be heightened or lessened, depending on how others interpret the image of the Catholic Church using an anime girl as a mascot for the Holy Year.   

“I think she’s a funny concept, but it has more meaning because her image is tied down to a religion,” Sounthala says. “I think giving a religion a mascot is really interesting and a nuanced conversation in itself; people might see it as offensive or disheartening when in reality, I don’t think most people even know about Luce.”

According to Rainbow Productions, mascots can help raise morale and inspire members of a group. Chong shares that she is in full support of the Church using a mascot such as Luce to shed a positive light on religion as a whole, as a Christian. 

“I am on the positive side of religion having a mascot,” Chong says. “Especially Luce; [she’s] very anime-like and cute, which adds a new perspective towards religion.”