Perhaps it is an odd moment for Lutheran fan mail. Yet, ever since you became the Bishop of Rome in 2013, I have become increasingly convinced that you are the pope that Luther was looking for 500 years ago. Here are four reasons why.

The two-hour film portrays the "simple monk" Martin Luther as more of a Catholic than he is generally thought to be.

What were once church-dividing teachings no longer define the majority of American Protestant belief.

This article appeared as “Luther and Catholic Historians,” on Oct. 21, 1967. 

“We know what our traditions, we know what our differences are, but we also know what unites us.”

On Oct. 31 the pope will participate in a ceremony to mark 500 years since the start of the Reformation.