We are now a month into Jubilee Year 2025. To mark this one-month milestone, Where Peter Is asked one of the Church’s youth to share her insights into Luce, the mascot for the celebrations. She wrote this thoughtful piece for us. Are you a youth who has something to say about current events within the Church? We’d love to hear from you at Where Peter Is – we might even share your article on our website! Young Catholics can send submissions to asroubek@wherepeteris.com.
How is it going? I am Simone Cromwell, a student who will be educating you on the mascot for the jubilee year, while making a few jokes along the way. Let’s dive in!
Luce, whose name means light, is an adorable new animated mascot meant to reach young pilgrims and children. Luce wears a yellow raincoat, muddy green boots and has blue hair. She kind of looks like Joy from the movie, Inside Out, don’t you think?
Luce is widely liked and accepted by many Catholics and non-Catholics. This is good because the Vatican commissioned her development hoping that Luce would be a meme that reminds Christians to pray and embraces the pop-culture that young people enjoy.
Image: Vatican Media
Simone Legno (who has the same first name as me but I am a girl and he is a man) designed Luce and used a rosary, a staff, and muddy boots for important purposes. The Vatican shared that Mr. Legno used a rosary to represent that Luce is Catholic. Luce wears this rosary around her neck. She also has muddy boots to symbolize that she has been on a long journey. Luce has a staff to show the journey to everlasting life in Heaven and to emphasize her role as a mascot for pilgrims. According to Forbes News, her blue hair is thought to represent the Virgin Mary’s traditionally blue head covering and the shell shape in her eyes is a symbol of the Camino de Santiago, a common pilgrimage.
You may be wondering, what is a Jubilee year and why is it important? Well, I am so glad you asked! A Jubilee year is an important tradition that the Church now holds once every 25 years (when they started in 1300AD, they were held every hundred years, but the Church has cut down the time in between them over the last seven hundred or so years). A Jubilee year is kind of like a birthday except they are only held once every 25 years and a birthday is held every year (unless you are born on February 29th). This particular jubilee celebrates the 2,025 birthday of Jesus. It is a big celebration and various parts of Rome were closed for repairs last year to get them ready for the pilgrims who will be heading to the Vatican. The Diocese of La Crosse in Wisconsin explains that jubilee years have their roots in the book of Leviticus (to find that book, you have to look in the first part of the Bible way before Jesus was born). In the Bible, the purpose of jubilee years was a lot like the purpose of the Sabbath: a time to focus on God and to build your relationship with Him. During this year, you can turn to God in wonder and awe. Do NOT forget joy! You can also use the year as an opportunity to focus on acts of mercy, pilgrimage, and caring for one another.
So, you are probably wondering what people are saying about Luce. Some people have been saying that Luce is “cringey” and “childish.” Don’t let them convince you of that! There’s always someone who has to be a critic, right? You need to form your own opinion. Fortunately, other people have been more supportive of the mascot and feel that Luce inspires Catholics as well as non-Catholics. Do you think so?
If you are wondering, “Simone, what do you think about Luce as a young person in the Catholic church?” then thank you for asking. I admit that I think that Luce is kind of “cringey.” She does not act cringey or do cringey things, but she is cringey looking because I think her blue hair is a bit much. However, Luce is adorable and a great mascot for young pilgrims and children that are on tough journeys of their own. We are all facing tough journeys. Let me get this straight: not just kids face tough journeys! Adults and the elderly do, too. I repeat, we all have tough journeys we are facing. Some people admit them more than others. I am sure that you yourself have a tough journey to travel. If so, you are like Luce! She can remind you that there is still hope. As a result, Luce is probably the best mascot for me and for the whole Catholic church during this year of Jubilee. Try her out, she might be the best mascot for you, too!
Featured Image: Luce inflatable at Lucca Comics 2024, By Green Erik, CC Attribution 3.0 Unported, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKiGMGkc0xk
Simone Cromwell is a middle school student with an amazing imagination. She loves to read and write, particularly when she can write fiction stories. She is a big fan of role playing games, an interest that benefits from her creativity. She is an altar server in her parish and is an active participant in her Catholic school community.
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