Pope John Paul II

==== Lutheranism ====
{{Refimprove section|date=October 2022}}
From 15 to 19 November 1980, John Paul II visited [[West Germany]]<ref name="Travels – Federal Republic of Germany 1980 – John Paul II – The Holy Father – The Holy See" /> on his first trip to a country with a large [[Lutheran]] [[Protestant]] population. In [[Mainz]], he met with leaders of the [[Protestant Church in Germany]], and with representatives of other Christian denominations.{{cn|date=October 2022}}

On 11 December 1983, John Paul II participated in an ecumenical service in the [[Christuskirche, Rome|Evangelical Lutheran Church in Rome]],<ref name="Ökumenisches Treffen mit der evangelisch-lutherischen Gemeinde von Rom" /> the first papal visit ever to a Lutheran church. The visit took place 500 years after the birth of the German [[Martin Luther]], who was first an [[Order of Saint Augustine|Augustinian]] friar and subsequently a leading Protestant [[Reformation|Reformer]].{{cn|date=October 2022}}

In his apostolic pilgrimage to Norway, Iceland, Finland, Denmark and Sweden of June 1989,<ref name="vatican" /> John Paul II became the first pope to visit countries with Lutheran majorities. In addition to celebrating Mass with Catholic believers, he participated in ecumenical services at places that had been Catholic shrines before the Reformation: [[Nidaros Cathedral]] in Norway; near St. Olav's Church at [[Þingvellir|Thingvellir]] in Iceland; [[Turku Cathedral]] in Finland; [[Roskilde Cathedral]] in Denmark; and [[Uppsala Cathedral]] in Sweden.{{cn|date=October 2022}}

On 31 October 1999, (the 482nd anniversary of [[Reformation Day]], Martin Luther's posting of the [[The Ninety-Five Theses|95 Theses]]), representatives of the [[Catholic Church]]'s [[Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity]] and the [[Lutheran World Federation]] signed a [[Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification]], as a gesture of unity. The signing was a fruit of a theological dialogue that had been going on between the [[Lutheran World Federation]] and the [[Holy See]] since 1965.{{cn|date=October 2022}}