In October 2024, the Vatican introduced Luce, a blue-haired anime-style mascot created by Italian artist Simone Legno. Aimed at attracting a younger audience, Luce features traditional Catholic symbols like a cross and a dog named Santino. Her debut on the Vatican’s YouTube account garnered tens of thousands of views, sparking widespread online reactions across platforms like Reddit, Imgur, TikTok, and 4chan. Fans embraced Luce with fanart and memes, while others humorously speculated about a future "religious anime universe." Despite the playful reception, there has been no official statement from the Vatican regarding the long-term plans for Luce beyond her role as the Holy Year 2025 mascot.
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FunTranscript
00:00I HAVE THE POWER OF GOD AND ANIME ON MY SIDE!
00:03W-WHA-
00:03It sort of seems like everything ever has had an anime version.
00:06Years ago, there was that Penguin Girl,
00:08nowadays every game that comes out on Steam has an anime style,
00:11it has infected everyone around the world because it's popular.
00:13Well, there are some institutions that haven't been animified yet, right?
00:16We've yet to see an anime girl run for office.
00:19Yet.
00:19And big institutions typically remain untouched.
00:22Maybe Wendy's gets an anime girl or something,
00:24but it's not like the FBI Twitter account has a waifu mascot.
00:27It's not like religions have a ma-
00:29Oh.
00:29Oh no.
00:30Yeah, on your screen right now is, no joke, a mascot for the Vatican.
00:35The blue-haired girl named Luce, who looks strangely similar to Rei Ayanami from Evangelion,
00:39which is really funny considering the religious aesthetics of that anime, was designed by
00:43Italian artist Simone Legno, and it's official.
00:46Catholics are trying to market to a younger crowd, to Gen Z, to the weebs, and it's honestly
00:50kind of a cute design.
00:51This will be like the anime version of VeggieTales, just you wait, they're gonna have Luce anime
00:55cartoons by the end of next year, I'm calling it.
00:57The official Vatican YouTube account posted Luce on October 28th, 2024, which garnered
01:02tens of thousands of views in just one day.
01:04She has a cross around her neck, a dog named Santino, and is often holding a stick, inspired
01:09by Catholic pilgrims.
01:10Luce means light in Italian, and it has been named the official mascot of the holy year,
01:152025.
01:16I mean this is just insane, look at this picture, this is like a Nendoroid, oh god, they're
01:19gonna make a Nendoroid of this, aren't they?
01:21Every religion around the world better act fast, because they're gonna need to compete.
01:25We're gonna have an entire religious anime universe, I'm excited to see what the Buddhists
01:29cook up.
01:30Maybe, just maybe, this will actually work.
01:31Internet users around the web immediately started posting about this, from 4chan to
01:35Twitter, to this Instagram post by the original artist.
01:38One 4chan user wrote, the church vs Satan isekai, when?
01:42I don't know if the anime world needs the 100,000th isekai of next season, but one Twitter
01:48user posted this image of Luce's character sheet with a bunch of symbolism explanations
01:53on it with the caption,
01:54The Vatican now has the power of God and anime on its side.
01:58I have the power of God and anime on my side!
02:02I mean it's really peak design, I hate to say it, but I want to win this character in
02:05a capsule machine in Tokyo, I think I'm Catholic now.
02:08Many users also began posting fanart, here's a few on the screen for you, very cute.
02:13The yellow raincoat meant to symbolize journeying through the storm reminds me of that anime,
02:18Wonder Egg Priority.
02:19The discourse continues about this religious anime mascot, and some users have begun posting
02:23fake screenshots, like this one which jokes about a 47th Catholic Twitter civil war between
02:30the Luce supporters and the anti-anime Catholics.
02:33I don't know how you could protest against this mascot, this is what Catholicism needs
02:37in my opinion.
02:38God birthed this anime girl into existence, all hail Luce.
02:42Obviously in terms of fanart, this is also the second coming of Christ because there's
02:46a plethora of it, like my favorite, Jesus holding Luce.
02:50One user wrote a top comment on our Know Your Meme page, quote,
02:53The Vatican being a patron of contemporary art is actually a return to form, in a way,
02:58end quote.
02:59Anyway, what religion do you want to see get animified next?
03:02The Church of Scientology has been real quiet since Luce dropped, maybe they're cooking
03:06up some Xenu anime girl.
03:08Fingers crossed!