The Vatican hired an artist to design its new mascot who previously worked on designs for sex toys, it has emerged.

Simone Legno has designed a mascot called “Luce”, Italian for “light”, for the 2025 Holy Year Jubilee.

The Italian artist’s mascot is a young girl dressed in a yellow rain jacket and wellington boots with a crucifix around her neck and a pilgrim’s staff in her hand.

The figure, inspired by Japanese cartoons, was officially unveiled at a press conference last week by Archbishop Rino Fisichella, the organiser of the special year of pilgrimage.

The archbishop underlined the mascot’s connection to “pop culture, so loved by our young people”, and said her large, luminous eyes were a symbol of “the hope that is born in the heart of every pilgrim”.