Saturday Side Quest - Holy Mascot, Shin-Chan!

Where has faith and fandom intersected this week?

Look—I’m just gonna call it like it is: The Pope stole my notebook.

If you somehow missed the news this week, the Vatican announced an anime mascot in honor of Jubilee 2025, and frankly, they are adorable.

In all seriousness, I doubt that Checkpoint Church or the general nerd ministry out there is on the radar of the Pope (but maybe👀), but the actual interview around the creation of this character, Luce, should ring very familiar to anyone in my orbit.

The mascot, he said, was inspired by the church’s desire “to live even within the pop culture so beloved by our youth.”¹

This is connected significantly to the World Expo in Osaka next year, where Luce and friends will be present. The announcement of this character has been lauded on the Internet with a cavalcade of memes and banter—it’s been humbling, to be honest.

There are certainly moments where my beloved United Methodist Church feels larger-than-life and impactful. Still, there are moments when I’m reminded of the overwhelming presence of the historic Catholic Church. I doubt the UMC will even have a presence at the World Expo 2025, or at least if they are; I’d love to get the invite (I want to be in Japan, let’s be real).

It’s also in these moments that I get inspired with a primitive awareness that I’m nowhere near my ceiling. There are so many avenues that nerd ministry can and should branch towards in the future, and I would be honored to be a part of that in any way, shape, or form.