ALBAWABA - The Vatican Catholic Church recently made headlines and went viral across social media after unveiling its very first coat-wearing anime mascot, Luce!
'Luce' is Italian for 'Light' in the English language. The blue-haired anime girl wears an adorable yellow raincoat, accompanied by dirty green shoes, a cross necklace, and a staff.
Italian Archbishop Rino Fisichella states that the idea behind the anime mascot was to appeal to their "Beloved youth" through pop culture since anime has become very popular among young teens and adults globally. It didn't take the internet long to make hilarious memes of Luce.
The Vatican unveils an Anime girl mascot, Who Is Luce?
According to Catholic TV, Luce will also serve as the mascot of the Holy See's pavilion at Expo 2025 in Osaka, Japan. We can't help but be reminded about Goodsmile's Nendoroid figurine lineup when it comes to Luce's Chibi-like characteristics.
A day ago, Vatican News Italiano took to its official YouTube account and posted a four-second video of Luce introducing herself by waving to the camera. the video in question garnered more than 100,000 views in the span of a day!
Luce already has already garnered many fans with multiple of them taking to X (formerly known as Twitter) to showcase their fan art of her.
(The Vatican's anime mascot Luce by Simone Legno)
Users took to Musk's X to express their opinions about the matter in question. Here's what they had to say:
"We literally have the power of god and anime on our side".
"Does YOUR church have an official anime girl mascot? Didn't think so. OURS DOES! We are so back!"
Another added, "We got an anime girl as a Catholic Church mascot before GTA 6".
Some also compared Luce to other short blue-haired characters including Rem from Re: Zero and Rei Ayanam from Neon Genesis Evangelion.
On the other hand, some were not so pleased with the Catholic church having a mascot and said, "Catholicism doesn't need a "mascot", we have a Cross".
