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Pope Francis arrived in Sweden on Monday for services marking the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation that split Lutherans and Catholics.


He arrived in the southern city of Malmo, and is 

 leaders of the Lutheran World Federation on Monday afternoon. He will 

 a service at a Lutheran Cathedral in the city of Lund, and a Mass at the arena in Malmo on Tuesday.
Sweden is a secular, 

 country. Some 72 million people belong to the Lutheran church worldwide, according to the 

. The Vatican estimates about 1.2 billion people have been baptized in the Catholic church.


 that he hopes the trip will encourage Lutherans and Catholics to support each other, especially in places where Christians of different denominations are persecuted together.



NPR's Sylvia Poggioli reports that the trip is "in keeping with his efforts to reach out to other branches of Christianity — like the Russian Orthodox Church — and other faiths, including Islam and Judaism."

While the pontiff's visit to Sweden is only for two days, it kicks off a yearlong commemoration of the Protestant Reformation.

, Sylvia has you covered for the basics:


Sylvia also notes that, in the spirit of reconciliation, Pope Francis went so far as to praise Martin Luther as a great reformer. Luther was long deemed a heretic by the Catholic church.


Still, differences in theology and ritual remain between the two churches. The Lutheran church allows women to serve as pastors, while the Catholic church does not permit women as priests, and the two churches have 

Religion and Faith

Rebecca Hersher

Author

Pope Francis is kicking off a yearlong commemoration of the split between Catholics and Lutherans by calling for Christians to stand together against persecution.

In show of unity, Pope Francis marks 500th anniversary of Protestant Reformation

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