Luce Will Evangelize Trillions
Catholics have a duty to engage with and transform the culture in which we live.
On October 28, the Vatican introduced "Luce," a new anime mascot, to the world1. Within hours, the internet was flooded with fan art and memes dedicated to her; hundreds of illustrators, Catholic and non-Catholic, from all corners of the globe shared their own portrayals of our new devout pilgrim. Anime—a medium often used to defame, demonize, and degenerate our faith—is, at least for now, a vibrant vessel for spreading the Gospel to those who may never have encountered it.
Yet this announcement has not gone unchallenged. Those who hold deeply to the Church’s traditions have raised thoughtful concerns about Luce’s debut. “Isn’t this pandering?” “Doesn’t this trivialize our beliefs?” Such questions arise from a desire to preserve the dignity and beauty of the Church's traditions. However, a strict commitment to rejecting new or popular forms of cultural expression may unintentionally hinder our mission. To truly preserve our traditions, we must not only welcome Luce but go even further.
To understand this, we must first recognize the call to influence culture. Pope St. Paul VI, in Evangelii Nuntiandi, famously wrote, “The split between the Gospel and culture is without a doubt the drama of our time, just as it was of other times. Therefore every effort must be made to ensure a full evangelization of culture”2. This encyclical makes it clear: Catholics have a duty to engage with and transform the culture in which we live.
Furthermore, this transformation cannot be achieved solely through political power. The recent history of Evangelical Christians in the U.S. demonstrates this, as they wielded significant political influence but ultimately failed to bring about lasting cultural change. Evangelical Christians constituted a strong and unified voting block, contributing to the election of President Trump in 20163. Despite this, they have failed to turn America into a more Christian society, as made evident by the fact that from 2017 to 2021 the proportion of Americans identifying as Christian declined sharply from 70% to 61%4. The political commentator J.J. McCullough puts it succinctly, “They [Evangelical Christians] have won many elections but lost the culture”5.
If our goal as Catholics and Integralists is to have a genuine, lasting impact on society we must directly engage with modern culture. Have we been effective in this regard? Sadly, our presence in popular media is almost non-existent. Secular values dominate most cultural spheres, and the release of even a moderately well-done Christian film feels like a miracle. This decline in Christian representation has real consequences as more people, particularly the young, drift away from the faith.
Of course, this issue is recognized by all Catholics, yet the division over Luce reflects the different approaches to this mission. On one side, “anti-Luce” conservatives believe that any change, adaptation, or addition of our traditions to appeal to modern secular culture is something to be avoided. This view is commonly expressed by “trad” voices on Twitter, who contrast Luce with Renaissance sculptures6 and Byzantine icons7. For them, these older works embody the pinnacle of Catholic art, and they look at modern expressions with skepticism. Their aim, ultimately, is to recreate a culture that resembles that of a bygone era.
Although this perspective comes from a reverence for our heritage it is ultimately a losing strategy. Society, especially younger generations, naturally gravitate toward the new. While the great artistic works of the past are indeed edifying, they are relics of the past. Outsiders look at the Church’s ancient icons and statues and wonder, “These are beautiful, but what new creations have they made?” When we show ourselves empty-handed, it should come as no surprise when they perceive Catholicism as a dying institution.
On the other hand, there are liberal Catholics who advocate for a complete overhaul of tradition, hoping to align the Church entirely with modern norms. To completely conform to modern culture, we make the Church incapable of evangelizing culture. In a sense, the approach murders the church’s mission. The folly of both the approaches of the conservatives and the liberals is well described by the political commentator Lavender, who states that “Both progressives and conservatives are fixated on the past. Conservatives lament its loss while left-wingers complain it doesn’t disappear quickly enough. One side is necrophiliac. The other is murderous. Both are preoccupied with death.”8
The solution, then, lies in a middle way—renewing tradition rather than discarding it or preserving it unaltered. A Church that honors its past while finding ways to communicate with the present is a Church that is alive. This is the spirit animating many Catholic artists, myself included. We seek to bring new life into the Church by creating works that are faithful to tradition but speak to the culture of our time.
This attitude of renewal is perfectly exemplified by the design of our mascot Luce. Her rosary symbolizes the importance of prayer, her raincoat and muddy boots signify humility, and her walking stick reminds others of the joys of pilgrimage. While her design draws from modern Japanese aesthetics, she embodies and reflects the values of Holy Mother Church. Luce is an example of how we can blend old and new, creating something meaningful for today.
Pope Benedict XVI once stated, “Art and the saints are the greatest apologetic for our faith.”9 The internet’s overwhelmingly positive response and the wave of fan art from non-Catholic artists illustrate the wisdom of these words. So much so that this announcement caused excitement in Japan, where only 0.3% of the population is Catholic.10 There is no doubt that Japanese anime culture is currently sweeping the globe. This has provided us with a golden opportunity to not only show Japan but the whole world the beauty of Catholicism.
Will we reject this opportunity because we mistakenly view anime as childish and beneath us? Or will we seize this chance to transform this beloved medium into an enduring beacon for Holy Mother Church? Let us choose the latter, not only embracing Luce but going further still.
@CatholicTV “The Vatican has unveiled the official mascot…” X (Formally Twitter), October 28, 2024. https://x.com/CatholicTV/status/1850904910180532432
Pope Paul VI. Evangelii Nuntiandi (1975), 20.
Bradley Jones, “An Examination of the 2016 Electorate, Based on Validated Voters,” Pew Research Center, August 9, 2018, https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2018/08/09/an-examination-of-the-2016-electorate-based-on-validated-voters/.
Reem Nadeem, “1. How U.S. Religious Composition Has Changed in Recent Decades,” Pew Research Center, September 13, 2022, https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2022/09/13/how-u-s-religious-composition-has-changed-in-recent-decades/.
JJ McCullough, “How Evangelicals Became Republicans,” YouTube, July 20, 2020, 27:33.
@CCityCatholic “Choose greatness. Reject idiocy..” X (Formally Twitter), October 28, 2024. https://x.com/CCityCatholic/status/1850973935753392636
@C_O_M_M_O_D_U_S “The Orthodox mascot. Unto the ages of ages.” X (Formally Twitter), October 28, 2024. https://x.com/C_O_M_M_O_D_U_S/status/1851010761474376072
Lavender, “Why Do Conservatives Always Lose?,” YouTube, August 3, 2024, 9:47.
Benedict XVI,” Meeting with the clergy of the Diocese of Bolzano-Bressanone, August 6, 2008. https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/speeches/2008/august/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20080806_clero-bressanone.html.
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W article, also did you mean to say Lavader instead of Lavender?
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