Though scheduled to debut at a comics con to be held in Lucca this week, the selected mascot for the Vatican’s upcoming jubilee Luce, a guiding light for the theme of 2025: Pilgrims of Hope will have her 
real premiere alongside another iconic anime figure in Sanrio’s Hello Kitty in a collaboration to bring awareness on the diversity of algae during the Osaka Expo, albeit in a separate pavilion under the auspices of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Evangelisation (Praedicate evangelium, a department of the Roman Curia, under the leadership of pro-prefect Salvatore ”Rino” Fisichella), hosting a space for “Luce and Friends”—Fe, Xin and Sky with her dog Santino. Dressed in hiking gear with mud-stained galoshes, there’s a shimmer of shell in her eyes, recalling the scallop symbol of the Camino de Santiago and organisers hope the group will resonate with the youth. The jubilee year begins on Christmas Eve with the opening of the Holy Door of St Peter’s and runs through Epiphany 2026.
synchronoptica
one year ago: Don Giovanni (with synchronoptica), a thesis paper on ASCII art plus The Devil’s Ball
seven years ago: more clever compositions from Christopher Niemann plus the US Stock Market Crash of 1929
eight years ago: Tabby’s Star, Geocities archived, Swiss Rail accepting bitcoin, new neighbours, more map projections plus an x-rated haunting
nine years ago: Odysseus and Circe, phenakistoscope animations plus IKEA plush toys
ten years ago: Roman Wiesbaden, paintings of big-eyed children plus a German gag political party
