The Catholic Church has unveiled an animated-style 'Luce' as its official mascot for the Jubilee of 2025. Luce means 'light' in Italian and was created to communicate with the younger generation and deliver a message of hope.
The mascot is depicted as a girl with large blue eyes and blue hair, wearing a rosary around her neck and wearing pilgrim clothing. She has a scallop shell, a symbol of pilgrimage, in her eyes, and she wears a pilgrim's staff and a cloak. Her emblem, the Pilgrimage of Hope badge, commemorates the 2025 Jubilee and features blue, green, yellow and red figures surrounding a cross.
Luce's design is considered a modern reinterpretation of a long-standing pilgrimage tradition. Since the Middle Ages, the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela in Spain, where the tomb of St. James is located, has been an important journey among believers. Pilgrims would recall their faith through the journey and take scallop shells or badges as souvenirs.
Luce's yellow cloak symbolizes the colors of the Vatican City flag, and her muddy boots reflect the reality of her pilgrimage journey, which is interpreted as an attempt to approach modern youth in a friendly manner.
Simone Regnio, Luce’s creator, says Luce symbolizes new encounters and exchanges. She is a character who represents all people, transcending gender, and conveys a message of hope and solidarity through the combination of tradition and innovation.
