Lapsed Catholic designer accused of involvement in the pornography industry
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The Vatican is facing stinging criticism for commissioning an artist known for creating sex toys and promoting LGBT+ Pride Month to design its mascot for the Holy Year of Jubilee in 2025.
Italian artist Simone Legno, co-founder of the tokidoki lifestyle brand, is the creator of "Luce," an androgynous-looking doll for the Jubilee Year.
Legno has also openly displayed his association with National Nude Day, occult-like artwork, and even softcore pornography.
On Monday, Abp. Rino Fisichella, pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization and organizer of the Jubilee Year, told a Vatican press conference that the mascot was intended to attract more young people to the Church through "pop culture."
Fisichella said that the "Luce and friends" exhibit will be showcased at the Italian Comics and Games convention for video games, comic books, and fantasy in Lucca this year, and again in 2025 at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan.
This "will allow us to speak to younger generations about the theme of hope, which is more central than ever in the evangelical message," the prelate remarked, stressing that the mascot underscores the Church's will "to live even within the pop culture so beloved by our youth."
INTRODUCING 'LUCE'
A Vatican press statement explained in detail the symbolism of the Jubilee Year mascot.
The mascot, named "Luce" (meaning "light") is dressed in a yellow raincoat, mud-stained boots, and a multi-colored rosary with a pilgrim's cross. Although the Vatican identified Luce as a girl, many viewers initially interpreted the figure as male.
Luce has blue hair and large eyes with shells in them. The "sailor's raincoat" represents the journey through life's storms, illustrating that life's pilgrimage isn't always smooth sailing. The iconic yellow of the raincoat is reminiscent of the Vatican flag.
Luce wears a short canvas cloak called a sanrocchino, which serves to protect pilgrims from the elements and symbolizes divine protection on their journey toward eternity. The rosary beads signify a life enriched by deep prayer and represent daily Christian devotion.
"I grew up in Rome in a Catholic family, where I learned the principles of a faith grounded in generosity and respect for others."
Luce's dirty boots symbolize humility and reflect the long, arduous journey of faith. The green color of the boots represents hope. Additionally, the shells in Luce's eyes symbolize perseverance in faith.
Accompanying Luce is her dog, Santino, which signifies Divine Providence, recalling how St. Rocco was assisted in times of extreme need. The dog also represents friendship. Luce is joined by three friends – Fe, Xin and Sky – who have different skin colors (brown, white and black), highlighting the Vatican's commitment to multiculturalism.
Significantly, despite bagging such a prestigious client, Legno did not parade his mascot for the Jubilee Year on his X feed, as of the time of this writing.
VATICAN PRAISES TOKIDOKI
Tokidoki "has grown into an internationally recognized pop-culture lifestyle brand and has amassed a cult-like following for its larger-than-life characters, megawatt partnerships and extensive range of products from apparel and handbags to home décor and even slot machines," the Vatican boasted in a press statement.
The statement quoted from Legno's talking about his Catholic heritage, but the artist gave no indication of being a practicing Catholic or Christian.
"I grew up in Rome in a Catholic family, where I learned the principles of a faith grounded in generosity and respect for others," Legno said. "I am extremely grateful to the Dicastery for Evangelization for opening its doors to pop culture as well."
The artist described the Jubilee as "a unique opportunity for encounter and dialogue for millions of people, including many young people," expressing hope that the pilgrim Luce would embody the sentiments that resonate with younger generations.
SELLING SEX TOYS
Legno's company tokidoki has partnered with the British company Lovehoney to design a variety of sex toys, including vibrators.
"Love-honey has joined forces with tokidoki, the pop-culture brand meaning 'sometimes' in Japanese to launch a range of collectible designer pleasure toys," the erotic trade journal EAN announced in 2016. "The result is a 'kawaii' (Japanese for 'cute') range emblazoned with the characters designed by tokidoki's co-founder and Creative Director, Simone Legno."
Lovehoney's international sales manager, Kate Hodgson-Egan, said: "The tokidoki Pleasure Collection is like nothing else out there. The 18-30 market is key for us and we noticed there were high levels of interest in Japanese culture and Kawaii-inspired designs amongst this audience."
The products continue to be sold on several web-based shopping sites. Out of our concern for decency, Souls and Liberty is not reproducing pictures of the products or links to any of the sites in our reporting.
PROMOTING PRIDE AND SOFT PORN
Tokidoki has also been involved in promoting LGBT+ events like Pride Month, and has created several "mobile wallpapers celebrating Pride" specifically directed at children and young people.
The tokidoki website sells multiple Pride-themed gifts for children, including a Pride Snapback baseball cap (€37.95), a Pride Lulu Unicorn (€15.95), a Sandy Pride doll (€20.95), and a Pride Prism Unicorn (€15.95).
"I guess the Vatican didn't see Luce's elder sister Dragon Girl. This madness needs to be called out!"
Irish Catholic podcaster Robert Nugent slammed the Vatican's choice of Legno as the designer for its Jubilee Mascot, noting: "The Vatican gets a guy who creates content for adult porn sites to create their 2025 mascot. This is crazy ... no no no no no and NO!"
"I guess the Vatican didn't see Luce's elder sister Dragon Girl. This madness needs to be called out!" Nugent posted, attaching an image of Legno with an apparently nude female covered with a yellow board with XXX on it.
ENDORSING NUDITY AND THE OCCULT
In another post, Nugent exposes Legno's bragging online about his "discovery" of National Nude Day.
Legno also reveals his association with "art" that has occultic overtones. On the Veve website he describes his Dragon Girl artwork.
"The Dragon traditionally symbolizes potent, auspicious powers as well as good luck, and within the composition of this artwork it expresses the positive and protective characteristics it offers to protect humanity," Legno writes.
"In the landscape of this painting the Dragon represents a positive water creature and is a friend that protects us and maintains our positive relationship with the natural world," he adds.
Italian Catholic columnist Mattia Spanò blasted the Church's commissioning of Legno to create Luce, writing:
"The Church no longer has anything to teach, nothing to hope for, no one to invoke, and above all it no longer has the words to do these things. It has lost the taste for truth. For this reason it resorts to puppets as if it had to palm off sweets to children, like a Butter Man who catches Pinocchios and wicks lost in the darkness."
Explaining the erotic dimension of Luce as an "androgynous little girl in Japanese manga style," Spanò noted how, "Modern Eastern society and Japanese society in particular, explicitly referred to by the author – exhibits a cult of infantilism that is not at all veiled, and in particular the sexualization of childhood, with completely explicit references."
Dr. Jules Gomes, (BA, BD, MTh, PhD), has a doctorate in biblical studies from the University of Cambridge. Currently a Vatican-accredited journalist based in Rome, he is the author of five books and several academic articles. Gomes lectured at Catholic and Protestant seminaries and universities and was canon theologian and artistic director at Liverpool Cathedral.
How appalling, this reminds me of the Old Testament where Juda and Israel turned away from God and worship other gods, the Vatican is worshipping the sick culture.
Yeah, no.
I never wore my rosary around my neck. Isn't that a 'stang' staff used by satanists?
If you want to appeal to the youth, why not promote Carlo Acutis (3 May 1991 – 12 October 2006) who was an Italian website designer who documented Eucharistic miracles and approved Marian apparitions, and catalogued both on a website he designed before his death from leukaemia. Acutis was noted for his cheerfulness, computer skills, and devotion to the Eucharist, which became a core theme of his life.
Is there nothing this pontif can't do that isn't bizzare?