A few weeks ago, the Catholic Church announced it had a mascot for the 2025 Jubilee Year: Luce, a Catholic pilgrim in the style of a Japanese pop-culture cartoon. It caused a rather large firestorm on Catholic social-media and news sites, drawing condemnation from some and praise from others. Opponents argued that Luce was cheesy, wondered why the church hadn’t picked one of her many saints for the role, and asked why the jubilee even needed a mascot. Luce apologists found her inviting, a good use of a popular art form to reach the masses.
The argument reached my family’s group chat and prompted me to continue pondering questions I’d had about Catholic art since returning from Rome last month.
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