The city of Lund preparing for visit by the Pope

In the city located in southern Sweden it’s a hectic time preparing for the big event and making sure of a warm welcome.

The interest is massive. Pope Francis will surely draw large crowds. No-one knows how many will seek out the medieval city with its magnificent cathedral, its quaint cobbled streets and its thousands of students. Lund is a mix of the old and the new. The university dates from 1666 and is Sweden’s largest with more than 40 000 students. In the outskirts not far from the centre the future is being created with the building of the huge high-tech materials research facility, ESS, the European Spallation Source.

Meet some of the central figures in the city of Lund who are involved in the preparations or who are invited to take partake in the historic event that is soon to take place.

Johan Tyrberg, Bishop of the Diocese of Lund since 2014.

Ordained priest in 1990. Previously worked for the Church of Sweden abroad in Frankfurt am Main, Germany and has also served as vicar in Karlshamn, Sweden.

This will be the first time in living memory that a prayer service organized jointly by Catholics and Lutherans at the global level is being held in the Cathedral in the city of Lund. What does hosting this historic occasion mean to you personally?

- I feel very privileged to be the Bishop of the Diocese of Lund at this point in time. It's very special to be a part of making history. This is the first time ever that something like this takes place in Lund, let alone the first time ever in history. This is what students will read about in their history books in the years to come.

- It's all about ending a conflict that has lasted for 500 years. The past 50 years we have been discussing how to make peace. It is in this spirit that the leaders of the Catholic and the Lutheran Church are meeting in Lund. It is an important step and a part of the process of reconciling with the past and moving forward together. World history will be written.

- It's been a long-standing dream of mine that different traditions in the churches can show a greater respect for one another. This meeting is therefore a dream come true. I hope that this event will mean that Lutherans and Catholics recognize eachother's faiths.

What impact do you expect or hope the event will have with regard to relations between Catholics and Lutherans at the local level?

- I hope that the relations improve and that this will result in a wider understanding of ecumenism in our region.

Maria Lundström