It has been over ten days since the Vatican officially unveiled the manga-style mascot of the Jubilee 2025, Luce, which sparked heated discussions on the Internet. I spent several days of attention to people’s opinions on the Web Luce, considering the general Chinese public attitude towards Christianity; I came up with a viewpoint: Luce presents an opportunity to change the negative perception of Christianity among the masses, especially young people. The benefits of the mascot far outweigh the drawbacks.
Imagine two types of young people who have not delved deeply into Christianity. When religion is mentioned, one group might immediately think of "notorious pedophilic priests"; the remark, “how many divisions does God have” (evolved from the often quoted Stalin’s remark, “how many divisions does the Pope have”, a modern Chinese sarcasm on Christianity, translator’s note); and other scandalous news about Christianity. The other group might first envision an anime girl from the Vatican who is blue-haired, wears a yellow anorak, and holds the pilgrim’s staff. It is evident that the latter group is less likely to attack Christianity, and will be easier to disseminate the gospel to than the former.
The malice towards Christianity exhibited by the first group is prevalent in the Chinese cyber environment, which is atheist; most non-Christian Chinese young people receive negative news about Christianity. As the influence and attention of Christmas decline in China, negative messages have helped form the first impression of Christianity for an increasing number of them. If when Christianity is mentioned and most young people only associate it with omnipotence paradoxes, the Flying Spaghetti Monster, or pedophilic priests, how can the gospel be spread?
All this may change due to Luce’s viral popularity, at least diluting the impact of negative news on Christianity. Most people are aware that both Catholics and Protestants believe in Jesus. Therefore, although Luce is a mascot introduced by the Catholic Church, she can not only change the public’s perception of Catholicism but also alter the negative impression of the entire Christian faith. Regardless of how older generations see it, the fact is that ACG ("Animation, Comics, and Games") is now a popular culture of this era, exerting a tremendous influence on the young generation. It is no longer as simple as cartoons are just for children. Otherwise, why would the Catholic Church, an “old fossil” as some claim, venture into the manga world to attract young people? As Luce becomes popular in the manga community, her religious character will also be known. Over time, Luce will subtly become the first impression of Christianity for many non-Christian young people. This move by the Vatican is “divinely made” for all Christian denominations.
Two phenomena, which are worth noting, have emerged in the ten days since the Vatican launched Luce. One is the “power of the Holy See.” Many foreign websites have taken down the pornographic fan art of Luce and banned the accounts of posters. The Catholic Church has used its “power” to declare that Luce is different from other manga characters and has special significance. Meanwhile, a small segment of voices in China claims that the image of Luce should be respected, and these individuals are not all Christians. Another phenomenon is that Luce’s introduction coincides with the repeated cancellations of performances by the transgender artist Jin Xing, who demonstrated a six-colored rainbow flag representing gay equal rights after a previous performance. Jin Xing’s actions aroused widespread condemnation among Chinese netizens, leading to the creation of more images such as Luce that have “divinely refining fire.” In the future, images of Luce may become one of the emoji used by young people who do not acknowledge homosexuality as a means to express their “anti-homo” stance.
I believe that in the future Luce will, to a certain extent, represent the image of Christianity on the Internet. The church should seize this opportunity to participate, dilute the malice towards Christianity online, and better integrate with young people. As Archbishop Rino Fisichella stated at a press conference, Luce was inspired by the hope of the church that its culture could endure among young people. I advise young and capable individuals to engage in fan art re-creation to prevent this field from being occupied by people with ulterior motives, leading to pornographic content, deconstruction, or homosexuality. To those who are less so I suggest using positive images online, advocating decent re-created images, and reporting any encountered pornographic images because your voice is power.
(Originally published by the Gospel Times, the article has been edited under permission and the author is a believer at a church in Zhejiang. )
- Translated by Charlie Li
10月29日梵蒂冈推出2025年禧年庆典吉祥物、二次元形象Luce，引发热议，已有十多天的时间。经过这几天观察，结合中文互联网对基督教的舆论环境，本人提出一个观点：Luce是改变大众（尤其是年轻人）对基督教负面印象的机会。Luce的出现利远大于弊。
设想一下，假设有以下两类没有深入了解过基督的年轻人，一类提到基督教时首先想到的是“神父和小男孩”“上帝他有几个师”和基督教的负面消息，另一类首先想到梵蒂冈的蓝发、黄色斗篷、拿着手杖的美少女，很明显，后者更不可能攻击基督教，向后者传福音的难度小于前者。
而前一类对基督教的恶意就是中文互联网普遍存在的情况。在无神论这个大环境下，大多数非基督徒的中国年轻人从网络收到关于基督教的信息都是负面的，随着圣诞节在我国影响力和关注度下降，这些负面信息成为越来越多年轻人对基督教的第一印象。如果说大多数年轻人一提基督教，就念全能悖论，就念飞天拉面，就念“神父和小男孩”等等，这福音还怎么传？
而这一切，都可能因为Luce的出圈爆火而改变，至少可以冲谈负面新闻对基督教的影响。天主教和新教都信耶稣这个常识大多数人还是有的，因此Luce虽是天主教推出的吉祥物，但能改变的不仅是大众对天主教的印象，更能改变对整个基督教的负面印象。无论老年人如何评价，一个事实是二次元已经是这个时代的流行文化，它对这一代年轻人的影响力是巨大的，早已经不是小孩子才看的动画片那么简单，不然天主教会这样一个“老古董”又怎么会为吸引年轻人进军二次元呢。Luce在二次元圈子流行，她自身的天主教属性也会随之传播，时间久了，Luce会潜移默化地成为不少非基督徒年轻人对基督教的第一印象。梵蒂冈这个举动对所有的基督信仰都是一波“神助攻”。
梵蒂冈推出Luce至今十多天的时间有两个现象值得注意：一个是“教廷的大手”，很多国外网站下架了Luce的色情二创（二次创作）并且封禁了发布者的账号。天主教会用“大手”宣告Luce有别于其他二次元角色，她有特殊意义，同时国内也有小部分声音认为对Luce应该尊重点，而这些人并非都是基督徒；另一个是Luce的出现恰逢变性人金星因为之前演出结束后展示代表同性恋平权的6色彩虹旗而多次被取消演出，金星的行为引发全网声讨，于是一些带有“天火”的图更加出圈，未来Luce的图片可能成为不认同同性恋的年轻人表达“反同”的表情包之一。
我认为未来Luce会在一定程度上代表基督教在网络上的形象，教会应该抓住这次机会参与其中，冲谈网络上对基督教的恶意，更好地融入年轻人。正如发布会上Rino Fisichella大主教所言：“Luce的灵感来源于教会的期许，他们希望教会文化能在年轻族群当中长存。”有能力的年轻肢体可以参与二创，以免这块阵地被别有用心的人占据，因而被色情化、被解构、被同性恋化。没有能力则可以在上网时使用正面梗图，给正面二创点赞，遇到有人传播色情二创图片随手点个举报，存在就是力量。
观点：梵蒂冈的二次元形象Luce是改变大众对基督教负面印象的机会
It has been over ten days since the Vatican officially unveiled the manga-style mascot of the Jubilee 2025, Luce, which sparked heated discussions on the Internet. I spent several days of attention to people’s opinions on the Web Luce, considering the general Chinese public attitude towards Christianity; I came up with a viewpoint: Luce presents an opportunity to change the negative perception of Christianity among the masses, especially young people. The benefits of the mascot far outweigh the drawbacks.
Imagine two types of young people who have not delved deeply into Christianity. When religion is mentioned, one group might immediately think of "notorious pedophilic priests"; the remark, “how many divisions does God have” (evolved from the often quoted Stalin’s remark, “how many divisions does the Pope have”, a modern Chinese sarcasm on Christianity, translator’s note); and other scandalous news about Christianity. The other group might first envision an anime girl from the Vatican who is blue-haired, wears a yellow anorak, and holds the pilgrim’s staff. It is evident that the latter group is less likely to attack Christianity, and will be easier to disseminate the gospel to than the former.
The malice towards Christianity exhibited by the first group is prevalent in the Chinese cyber environment, which is atheist; most non-Christian Chinese young people receive negative news about Christianity. As the influence and attention of Christmas decline in China, negative messages have helped form the first impression of Christianity for an increasing number of them. If when Christianity is mentioned and most young people only associate it with omnipotence paradoxes, the Flying Spaghetti Monster, or pedophilic priests, how can the gospel be spread?
All this may change due to Luce’s viral popularity, at least diluting the impact of negative news on Christianity. Most people are aware that both Catholics and Protestants believe in Jesus. Therefore, although Luce is a mascot introduced by the Catholic Church, she can not only change the public’s perception of Catholicism but also alter the negative impression of the entire Christian faith. Regardless of how older generations see it, the fact is that ACG ("Animation, Comics, and Games") is now a popular culture of this era, exerting a tremendous influence on the young generation. It is no longer as simple as cartoons are just for children. Otherwise, why would the Catholic Church, an “old fossil” as some claim, venture into the manga world to attract young people? As Luce becomes popular in the manga community, her religious character will also be known. Over time, Luce will subtly become the first impression of Christianity for many non-Christian young people. This move by the Vatican is “divinely made” for all Christian denominations.
Two phenomena, which are worth noting, have emerged in the ten days since the Vatican launched Luce. One is the “power of the Holy See.” Many foreign websites have taken down the pornographic fan art of Luce and banned the accounts of posters. The Catholic Church has used its “power” to declare that Luce is different from other manga characters and has special significance. Meanwhile, a small segment of voices in China claims that the image of Luce should be respected, and these individuals are not all Christians. Another phenomenon is that Luce’s introduction coincides with the repeated cancellations of performances by the transgender artist Jin Xing, who demonstrated a six-colored rainbow flag representing gay equal rights after a previous performance. Jin Xing’s actions aroused widespread condemnation among Chinese netizens, leading to the creation of more images such as Luce that have “divinely refining fire.” In the future, images of Luce may become one of the emoji used by young people who do not acknowledge homosexuality as a means to express their “anti-homo” stance.
I believe that in the future Luce will, to a certain extent, represent the image of Christianity on the Internet. The church should seize this opportunity to participate, dilute the malice towards Christianity online, and better integrate with young people. As Archbishop Rino Fisichella stated at a press conference, Luce was inspired by the hope of the church that its culture could endure among young people. I advise young and capable individuals to engage in fan art re-creation to prevent this field from being occupied by people with ulterior motives, leading to pornographic content, deconstruction, or homosexuality. To those who are less so I suggest using positive images online, advocating decent re-created images, and reporting any encountered pornographic images because your voice is power.
(Originally published by the Gospel Times, the article has been edited under permission and the author is a believer at a church in Zhejiang. )
- Translated by Charlie Li
Opinion: The Vatican Manga Mascot Luce Might Serve to Change Public’s Negative Perception of Christianity
