Reformation Day is celebrated each October 31st, reminding us of the year 1517 when Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses at All Saints’ Church in Wittenberg. Theologians believe that Luther chose this day, bearing in mind that many people would attend the church on All-Hallows’ Day (November 1st). In the Western church, the celebration of All-Saints’ Day dates back to the 4th century and commemorates all the saints and martyrs of the church. In North America and most of Europe, October 31st is also the day that Halloween is observed. The term ‘Halloween’ is an English contraction of All-Hallows’ Eve. …

I grew up in Latin America, in a country where hardly 4 or 5 percent of the population was Protestant. It was also a time and a place where Protestantism was understood almost exclusively in terms of opposition to everything Catholic, and where most Catholics knew very little about Protestants, beyond the fact [they] were heretics. Most of my classmates in high school were Catholic in a very superficial manner. But some others were very devout, and one of the manifestations of their devotion was that they crossed themselves when they learned that I was a Protestant. In the first …