Vatican unveils anime-inspired blue-haired pilgrim as the Jubilee year mascot

The Vatican has unveiled the official mascot of the 2025 Jubilee, a special period of spirituality and forgiveness in the Catholic Church held every 25 years in Rome.

With a yellow mackintosh, dirty boots and a cross around her neck, the mascot has been named Luce, meaning 'light' in Italian.

She was designed by artist Simone Legno and was presented by Monsignor Rino Fisichella, who is in charge of all the activities promoting the Holy Year.

Luce will also feature as the mascot for the Vatican pavilion at the 2025 Osaka Expo.

The mascot is reminiscent of the Japanese anime comic style. For Fisichella, the design responds to the "desire to live within pop culture, so loved by our young people".

Luce has lots of typical characteristics of a pilgrim: a yellow mackintosh to protect her from the weather, boots soiled with dirt from the road, a missionary cross around her neck and a walking stick.

She has "luminous eyes, a symbol of the hope of the heart", with the iconic shell of the Camino de Compostela pilgrimage way shining within.

"We hope that this mascot will appeal to everyone and can be that sign of unity between the pilgrimage route and the Osaka Expo," said Fisichella.

The design is the work of Roman visual artist Simone Legno, best known for creating the tokidoki brand. Legno's designs are influenced by his interest in Japan and its culture, as well as street art and graffiti. He is inspired by the kawaii aesthetic, made up of cute, colourful subjects with big, bright eyes.

For the design of Luce, Legno was particularly inspired by the Japanese love for mascots (called yuru-chara) - there is even an annual competition involving hundreds of them from all over the country.

Luce also participated in the 2024 edition of Lucca Comics and Games, where a space dedicated to the Jubilee mascot was set up. This is the first time that a department of the Holy See has participated in the Italian festival, the most important fair in Europe dedicated to comics, games, video games, animated films, fantasy fiction, illustration and TV series.

"We are very honoured and happy that Lucca Comics and Games has been chosen by the Holy See as the first event to present Luce, the first mascot of an ordinary Jubilee, to the world," commented Lucca Comics and Games director Emanuele Vietina.