Current Events 003: Not again!

It seems that it was not all that long ago that the collective Christendom was lamenting the choices made by the organizers of the Olympic Games in Paris. (Please see our previous post on this topic.) But while Christians of many traditions and even Muslims and Buddhists voiced their outrage, the insult was most specifically aimed at the Catholic Church, since Leonardo da Vinci was a Catholic, and France is culturally Catholic - perhaps, in the same way that Dawkins is culturally Anglican. This is why it seems a bit inexplicable that a couple of days before Halloween, the Church of Rome decided to unveil their new mascot for 2025 named Luce.

I am not Catholic, and most happenings within the Catholic Church are of only limited interest to me. But this particular story is so unusual that it drew my attention, and I wanted to know more. First, I did not know that Catholic Jubilees had mascots. I still do not know that they do; I do not recall any mascots in 2000, and 1975 was not a good year for my memories. Thus, this one seems to be the very first in all of Catholic history. Etymonline gives the following etymology of the word mascot:

mascot (n.)

"a talisman, charm, thing supposed to bring good luck to its possessor," also "person whose presence is supposed to be a cause of good fortune," 1881, from provincial French mascotte "sorcerer's charm, 'faerie friend,' good luck piece" (19c.), of uncertain origin, perhaps from or related to Provençal mascoto "sorcery, fetish" …

In light of such origins of the word, was it pure coincidence that the Catholic mascot was revealed three days before Halloween? Perhaps, we are witnessing a truly historic event, whereby for the first time in the two-millennia-long history of the Roman Church, it has now introduced jubilee mascots for the very first time, and we can expect another one in 2050, 2075, and so on, until the Second Coming of our Lord. (I wonder what mascot will be chosen for that glorious event?) To be sure, it is not wise to apply one’s own Typikon to another’s monastery; and if the Catholics feel that they need a mascot, I should have little to say about that - except, this one is just so interesting that it cannot but spark curiosity. One could be forgiven for presuming that the mascot for the Roman Catholic Church, if she were to have one, could be the Righteous Joseph the Betrothed, or Saint Francis of Assisi, or Saint Teresa of Calcutta who spent her life caring for the tired, the poor, the huddled masses, or even the Blessed Carlo Acutis, a teen website designer, if the Roman Church were inclined to appeal to the younger faithful, but one would be far from correct in any of these guesses. The official Catholic mascot of 2025 is an anime character named Luce. Let us take a closer look, shall we?

The artist who was commissioned by the Vatican and is now in the same club as Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci, and Michelangelo, is Simone Legno. Signore Legno was born in Rome and raised in a Catholic family. It is a bit less clear whether he is a practicing Catholic nowadays, but this is between him and Christ, or between him and Christ’s vicar, as it were. However, it is worth noting that Signore Legno is an enthusiastic LGBTQ supporter who is well-known for creating Pride celebration art and designing sex toys. All things considered, this seems to be in keeping with the tradition of the Vatican. Scholars believe that both Leonardo and Michelangelo may have been homosexuals, and earlier this year, the Roman Pontiff himself noted that, “In Vaticano c’è aria di frociaggine”¹ (“In the Vatican, there is an air of faggotry.”) I cannot know for certain, but if I were to guess, “in queste parole c'è aria di infallibilità.”