Jubilee mascot designed to engage younger audience.

The Vatican on Monday launched the official mascot for the Catholic Church’s 2025 Jubilee Year, a cartoon character called Luce, whose name means "light" in Italian.

The smiling character, dressed in a yellow raincoat and muddy boots, was unveiled by the Vatican’s chief Jubilee organiser, Archbishop Rino Fisichella, who said the aim was to engage with “the pop culture so beloved by our young people.”

The mascot, with her pilgrim's staff and dog Santino, is designed to guide young pilgrims towards hope and faith, according to the Catholic News Agency (CNA).

Luce’s yellow raincoat references both the Vatican flag and the journey "through life’s storms", CNA reports, with her mud-stained boots representing a long, difficult journey and her staff symbolising "the pilgrimage toward eternity".

The seashell motif in Luce's eyes recalls the scallop shell of the Camino de Santiago, an ancient emblem of the pilgrimage journey.

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Designed by Simone Legno, the Italian co-founder of pop culture brand tokidoki, Luce and her pilgrim friends Fe, Xin, and Sky will be presented at the Lucca Comics & Games convention in Tuscany this week.

Luce will also represent the Holy See’s pavilion at Expo 2025 in Osaka, Japan, alongside Caravaggio’s painting The Entombment of Christ, on loan from the Vatican Museums.

Luce got a mixed reaction from Italians on social media, with many comparing her to Swedish climate change activist Greta Thunberg due to her yellow raincoat.

The unveiling of Luce comes as Rome and the Vatican prepare to welcome more than 30 million tourists and pilgrims to the Eternal City for Jubilee Year 2025.