Introducing the Newest Jubilee Mascot: Tenebro

[Stone]

Introducing the Newest Jubilee Mascot: Tenebro

NLM [adapted] | October 30, 2024

I am sure that by now, all of our readers have met Luce, the official mascot of the upcoming Jubilee, who was introduced to the world on Monday as an expression of the Church’s desire “to live even within the pop culture so beloved by our youth.” However, as many have noted, the style of the new mascot seems geared to appeal to those who are so young that they are just as likely to fall asleep under a pew as to sit in one, leaving the unfortunate impression that the Faith is something to be grown out of. Rightly might one suspect that she holds little interest for groups within the Church whose numbers are growing, such as young men, and those who love traditional forms of worship.

To meet this problem, the wise men of the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith have decided that the Jubilee of 2025 will have a whole range of mascots, designed to appeal to a variety of demographics. New Liturgical Movement is very proud to have been chosen as the outlet for introducing the world to the first new character in the Luce expanded universe, her putative (n.b.!) nemesis Tenebro.

The official backstory of Tenebro is that he is one of the Rigidicons, a group who are reputed to have the dark power to gradually extinguish all the lights of progress that have been lit within the Church over the last 60 years. (This power is suggested by the fact that they dress primarily in black.) In early episodes of the upcoming animated series, it will appear to many that Tenebro is trying to hinder Luce from completing her pilgrimage to Rome.

But, as is so often the case, the real story is a lot more complicated. (Spoiler alert!) It will be gradually revealed that another character, the Pontiff Supreme Benedicto, transformed the power of the Rigidicons, such that the lights which they extinguish come blazing back to life and illuminate the whole Church. Tenebro is one of a growing faction among the Rigidicons who have embraced this transformation of their power for good, which is conveyed through the diadem on his chest. (It will also be Tenebro who teaches the young Luce that a rosary is not a necklace...)
New Liturgical Movement will be the first to let you know as each of a whole spate of new Jubilee mascot characters is brought out to an eagerly waiting Church and world.