Asked about his personal experience with the Lutheran Church, Pope Francis said the first time he ever entered a Lutheran church was when he was 17 and went to a co-worker’s wedding.
Later, as a Jesuit and professor at the Jesuit school of theology in Argentina, he said he had frequent contact and exchanges with professors at the nearby Lutheran school of theology.
“I invited a professor of spiritual theology from that faculty, a Swede, Anders Ruuth, to hold lectures on spirituality together with me,” the pope said. It was “a truly difficult time” for the pope personally, he said, “but I had a lot of trust in him and opened my heart to him. He helped me a lot in that moment.”
Friendships and formal exchanges with Lutheran pastors and leaders continued while he was archbishop of Buenos Aires and now as pope, he said.
Source: Catholic News Service - "Pope on why he’s going to Sweden: ‘Closeness does all of us good’", 28 Oct 2016, https://cnstopstories.com/2016/10/28/pope-on-why-hes-going-to-sweden-closeness-does-all-of-us-good/
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