This will not be one of those regarding posts regarding the mascot “Luce”, that this is of Satan, or that this character is going to play a substantial role in evangelization. There is a lot of more sane middle ground here. An area that I just want to think about, play around in for fun and, of course, make puns.
To be honest, my first reaction was pure hot take. There was something surreal about the picture of Archbishop Rino Fisichella, looking at the 3D figure of the anime-inspired character of Luce and reaching out to touch the pilgrim’s staff. Then the statement that this is part of the Vatican’s goal to appeal to and better engage with the new generation through “pop culture so beloved by our youth.”
Once the meme reactions started pouring out regarding the art itself, I saw that this was some great fun and at least a step above some of the Vatican’s previous logos for events.
When I heard Larry Chapp’s jokingly reference to it as a “Catholic Chucky”, it reminded me of my initial reaction to the 3D figure.
I thought about what a Catholic Chucky would entail. A repentant Chucky that wanted to make up for all the evils and murderous deeds he had done. After a long period of years involved in nihilistic violence and purposeless havoc, would he see past his emptiness to ponder something greater?
I thought about this paragraph from G.K. Chesterton, included in “Essays on Shaw”:
And in practice every man is a theologian, even when he is not a theist. The great later work of Shaw is in Back to Methuselah; in which he says men must live three hundred years. And I say that if he did live three hundred years he would be a Catholic.
I thought about Alessandro Serenelli, who murdered and stabbed Maria Goretti 14 times. A man seemingly not open to repentance in the decades he was in prison. A man who repented and was at her canonization when Pope Pius XII declared Maria Goretti as a saint. An event he attended with Maria’s mother and four of Maria’s siblings.
So a converted Chucky instead of sending people to the hospital, visited them at the hospital. Taken on a confirmation name of Saint Julian the Hospitaller, the patron saint for murderers. A transformed Chucky that would encourage a child to grow closer to Jesus. To not prey on others, but to pray for others. Instead of carrying a knife stabbing people, to teach the child the Stabat Mater. Instead of decadence, to pray decades of the Rosary.
A movie based on this would obviously be:
