One doesn’t make just one of such things, a marketing tool is a brand, an image concurrent, in this case, with an event. There will be many such figures in a variety of media. I think the author nailed it with the word “frivolous.” He didn’t claim it was evil, but missing the gravitas of what the event should imply. We are speaking of Christ the King, Who shed His blood for love of fallen mankind. There is a pantheon of inspiring saints and a world of tremendous art at our fingertips—more than all the troves held by secular world, and we come a cropper to a pagan artist and beg him for a crumb. Hmmm.
This page has long adopted the position that sinister motives are normally too complex and detailed an explanation for what is normally just sheer incompetence, buffoonery and vanity.
It is a position that was ahead of the curve for years and now many are coming around to it. One day there will be a death of stalin black comedy about Francis' Vatican, and it will be the truth.
This is a really extreme and bizarre response to something that, far from being heavily marketed, is not even available for sale and was unlikely to even be heard of except for the fact that the Catholic denizens of X latched onto it. This week also had the final report on the Synod in Synodality, the publication of rational for the judgement in the Vatican financial trial, a document about progress made in safeguarding children and the vulnerable, and a quite good encyclical on the Sacred Heart. There are a lot of reasons to be upset with the Vatican, but claiming it’s wasting its time on things like this when it was clearly a minor afterthought is a bit much. Luce is a mascot for a particular event, a way to draw attention to it and, yes, she will vanish from public consciousness likely by this time next year at the latest. She serves the purpose of Olympic mascots, to draw attention to the event, not to remain as an enduring symbol. It’s a cute design, it will exist for a time, and then go away. It’s not a brilliant idea, it’s not the abomination of desolation, it’s just a character to help draw attention to an event and in that, seems to be working reasonably well.
Equally as odd as you leaving a comment that I chose to write about something less technical. But to recap:
Synod document - who cares? Nobody is going to read it. Even the Pope has made clear he is not going to read it.
A new encyclical - anyone who has read me at all knows I tend to view encyclicals as extremely limited tools that, since maybe .1% of the faithful read, are far less influential than those .1% claim they are. But there actually is someting coming about that!
Financial report: As I am not a lawyer or a financial guy, anything I write would be pointless
As for "Wasting its time on minor things", it appears you didn't read what i wrote, because I said frivolity on the minor things is precisely the problem: the Church cannot afford frivolity on those little things, because those are things which will weaken her credibiltiy.
Comments like these are why its always so weird to comment on articles, and why one often makes a mistake even interacting with them. It's not interacting with the work, its soapbox preaching from someone who didn't read it, but clearly has something to say. Well, you've had your say.
I try to avoid simply regurgitating what everyone else is talking about. This is not The Pillar. I talk about topics which I find interesting and I think are parts of larger stories where a fresh set of eyes is needed. Something I can do because I do it for free and have zero financial interest or stake. You are free to go elsewhere.
My impression is that this episode indicates that the hierarchy is (almost completely or at least to a large degree?) out of touch with church members. The author of “The Banished Heart” mentions in it that there were no parish priests on the committee that drafted the Novus Ordo missal, and the reaction of some parish priests to it was that many changes were destroying the piety of their parishioners. Now that Kevin has mentioned it, I think frivolous is good description. The late Rev Leonard Giardina used to put on his Sunday bulletin near the end of septuagesima that Lent is a serious season for a serious God.
Thanks for a spot on comment, Kevin. I would rate Steve Skojek's superb hatchet job even higher. Like you, he is concerned at the frivolity of the marketing. But he pointed out the awful optics. An elderly clergyman in a Church infamous for abuse presents a child like doll?? As Steve said, how viewers interpret a presentation is outside the control of the presenter. No use having detailed laboured explanations of all the visual elements (yellow coat is the colour of the Vatican flag, etc).
Lots of other possibilities spring to mind. Luce and her three friends look....er, androgynous as well as childish. And there is a rainbow coloured logo in one corner...
Thanks for this - I was struggling to articulate what I felt about it and "frivolous" is a good summary overall. Having spent some time (professionally, I should say) in the murkier parts of human behaviour, however, I do recognise another aspect of the figure - anime style has been used in what I can only describe as pornography or sex abuse-adjacent activities. Much art is now sexualised and many people do not recognise it. My instinctive reaction to Luce was revulsion for that reason, that association, though the figure itself is not of that kind, I admit. But I do think this connection explains why some people think it is evil.
They know exactly what they’re doing. Not the first time they’ve used a Wicca Stang as the central prop. Cute little Luce, the Lucifer (the pre-fallen Light Bearer name of Satan) doll. These people are evil. And this is their time.
No. But its "Light". Yes, Lucifer is the lightbringer, but light is also a prominent theme in the Gospels and the need for people to be light to the world, which is what a pilgrim does.
Its pretty simple on that account, and while I think a lot of criticisms are open issues, that one is really dumb.
It does seem like they could have chosen a name less open to multiple interpretations. Like, say, Maria. Also, they could have chosen a walking stick that looks like a walking stick instead of a stang. And, they could have chosen an illustrator who also does not also design sex toys, soft porn, and Pride material. There are a lot of alternative choices they could have made, and yet they chose those. It does make you wonder a bit.
I could just obliterate the fragile state of grace I'm currently in after confession today, by agreeing with Diana here, and ranting about how incompetence doesn't consistently reveal malice and depravity.
In isolation absolutely. Taken together with everything else, I wonder. The Vatican has communicated symbolically for centuries. Moreover, it is full of very intelligent and educated wordsmiths incessantly concocting reams of ambiguous pronouncements that permit maximum flexibility and deniability. Of course, maybe I’m just cranky.
It's worth noting, regarding the name, that Blessed Chiara Badano, an 18-year old Italian teenager who died in 1990, was given the nickname "Luce" ("Light") when she was a member of the Focolare movement. And you'll often see her referred to as Bl. Chiara Luce. So if the name is a reference to anyone, it is far more likely a reference to her then anyone else.
One doesn’t make just one of such things, a marketing tool is a brand, an image concurrent, in this case, with an event. There will be many such figures in a variety of media. I think the author nailed it with the word “frivolous.” He didn’t claim it was evil, but missing the gravitas of what the event should imply. We are speaking of Christ the King, Who shed His blood for love of fallen mankind. There is a pantheon of inspiring saints and a world of tremendous art at our fingertips—more than all the troves held by secular world, and we come a cropper to a pagan artist and beg him for a crumb. Hmmm.
I suspect it’s much more sinister than this but I hope I am wrong. Thank you for this thought provoking and more diplomatic piece! 😀
This page has long adopted the position that sinister motives are normally too complex and detailed an explanation for what is normally just sheer incompetence, buffoonery and vanity.
It is a position that was ahead of the curve for years and now many are coming around to it. One day there will be a death of stalin black comedy about Francis' Vatican, and it will be the truth.
Teehee thank you for lightening the mood Kevin. It feels like we are in very dark times both within and without of the church. God bless.
This is a really extreme and bizarre response to something that, far from being heavily marketed, is not even available for sale and was unlikely to even be heard of except for the fact that the Catholic denizens of X latched onto it. This week also had the final report on the Synod in Synodality, the publication of rational for the judgement in the Vatican financial trial, a document about progress made in safeguarding children and the vulnerable, and a quite good encyclical on the Sacred Heart. There are a lot of reasons to be upset with the Vatican, but claiming it’s wasting its time on things like this when it was clearly a minor afterthought is a bit much. Luce is a mascot for a particular event, a way to draw attention to it and, yes, she will vanish from public consciousness likely by this time next year at the latest. She serves the purpose of Olympic mascots, to draw attention to the event, not to remain as an enduring symbol. It’s a cute design, it will exist for a time, and then go away. It’s not a brilliant idea, it’s not the abomination of desolation, it’s just a character to help draw attention to an event and in that, seems to be working reasonably well.
Equally as odd as you leaving a comment that I chose to write about something less technical. But to recap:
Synod document - who cares? Nobody is going to read it. Even the Pope has made clear he is not going to read it.
A new encyclical - anyone who has read me at all knows I tend to view encyclicals as extremely limited tools that, since maybe .1% of the faithful read, are far less influential than those .1% claim they are. But there actually is someting coming about that!
Financial report: As I am not a lawyer or a financial guy, anything I write would be pointless
As for "Wasting its time on minor things", it appears you didn't read what i wrote, because I said frivolity on the minor things is precisely the problem: the Church cannot afford frivolity on those little things, because those are things which will weaken her credibiltiy.
Comments like these are why its always so weird to comment on articles, and why one often makes a mistake even interacting with them. It's not interacting with the work, its soapbox preaching from someone who didn't read it, but clearly has something to say. Well, you've had your say.
I try to avoid simply regurgitating what everyone else is talking about. This is not The Pillar. I talk about topics which I find interesting and I think are parts of larger stories where a fresh set of eyes is needed. Something I can do because I do it for free and have zero financial interest or stake. You are free to go elsewhere.
My impression is that this episode indicates that the hierarchy is (almost completely or at least to a large degree?) out of touch with church members. The author of “The Banished Heart” mentions in it that there were no parish priests on the committee that drafted the Novus Ordo missal, and the reaction of some parish priests to it was that many changes were destroying the piety of their parishioners. Now that Kevin has mentioned it, I think frivolous is good description. The late Rev Leonard Giardina used to put on his Sunday bulletin near the end of septuagesima that Lent is a serious season for a serious God.
Spot on!
Thanks for a spot on comment, Kevin. I would rate Steve Skojek's superb hatchet job even higher. Like you, he is concerned at the frivolity of the marketing. But he pointed out the awful optics. An elderly clergyman in a Church infamous for abuse presents a child like doll?? As Steve said, how viewers interpret a presentation is outside the control of the presenter. No use having detailed laboured explanations of all the visual elements (yellow coat is the colour of the Vatican flag, etc).
Lots of other possibilities spring to mind. Luce and her three friends look....er, androgynous as well as childish. And there is a rainbow coloured logo in one corner...
Thanks for this - I was struggling to articulate what I felt about it and "frivolous" is a good summary overall. Having spent some time (professionally, I should say) in the murkier parts of human behaviour, however, I do recognise another aspect of the figure - anime style has been used in what I can only describe as pornography or sex abuse-adjacent activities. Much art is now sexualised and many people do not recognise it. My instinctive reaction to Luce was revulsion for that reason, that association, though the figure itself is not of that kind, I admit. But I do think this connection explains why some people think it is evil.
You are in a great big river called DeNial
They know exactly what they’re doing. Not the first time they’ve used a Wicca Stang as the central prop. Cute little Luce, the Lucifer (the pre-fallen Light Bearer name of Satan) doll. These people are evil. And this is their time.
ok
Thank you for clearing this up! Who exactly chose the name “Luce”, do we know?
No. But its "Light". Yes, Lucifer is the lightbringer, but light is also a prominent theme in the Gospels and the need for people to be light to the world, which is what a pilgrim does.
Its pretty simple on that account, and while I think a lot of criticisms are open issues, that one is really dumb.
It does seem like they could have chosen a name less open to multiple interpretations. Like, say, Maria. Also, they could have chosen a walking stick that looks like a walking stick instead of a stang. And, they could have chosen an illustrator who also does not also design sex toys, soft porn, and Pride material. There are a lot of alternative choices they could have made, and yet they chose those. It does make you wonder a bit.
This is just me, but I don't think there are "multiple interpretations". There will always be people reaching. The name is pretty straightforward.
The other stuff is fair game for criticism I think. The name? Nah.
I could just obliterate the fragile state of grace I'm currently in after confession today, by agreeing with Diana here, and ranting about how incompetence doesn't consistently reveal malice and depravity.
We are to be gentle as doves but also wise as serpents. It does no one any good to look away from obvious problems. God bless✝️🙏
In isolation absolutely. Taken together with everything else, I wonder. The Vatican has communicated symbolically for centuries. Moreover, it is full of very intelligent and educated wordsmiths incessantly concocting reams of ambiguous pronouncements that permit maximum flexibility and deniability. Of course, maybe I’m just cranky.
It's worth noting, regarding the name, that Blessed Chiara Badano, an 18-year old Italian teenager who died in 1990, was given the nickname "Luce" ("Light") when she was a member of the Focolare movement. And you'll often see her referred to as Bl. Chiara Luce. So if the name is a reference to anyone, it is far more likely a reference to her then anyone else.
Ok everything about this mascot is sus but the name is fine.