Pope Francis, an Argentinian and the first pope to hail from the Americas, arrives in Philadelphia on Saturday with a deep understanding of his presence in the City of Brotherly Love.

We Pennsylvanians should have a similar awareness of our spiritual heritage as we welcome Francis. A brief history lesson might be helpful.

Columbus’ discovery of the Americas was just one of several history-altering events and innovations occurring about 500 years ago.

Johannes Gutenberg’s printing press with movable type, invented around 1440, made possible the easy duplication of books, making knowledge available and affordable to the masses.

Martin Luther, a Catholic friar, scribe and theology professor, challenged the authority of the church in 1517 with his publication of “95 Theses.” Luther’s Protestant Reformation grew quickly, and continues to grow, disseminated with the help if Gutenberg’s press.

Another product of the press: the Bible, translated from Latin into languages the common people could read for themselves. One of the earliest Bible translations was Luther’s German version.

The existing church reacted with intolerance. Luther was tossed out of the Catholic church and condemned as an outlaw. Religious wars erupted for 120 years, some enduring for decades — an ironic embarrassment for Christians on both sides who espoused tolerance as a foundational virtue.

The fledgling Protestant movement found shelter in the New World. The British Pilgrims settled in Massachusetts, the German Reformists in New York and Connecticut, and the Quakers in Pennsylvania. In an expansive and fertile land, they pioneered the democratic principles by which we govern ourselves today.

In 1684, two years after William Penn established the Pennsylvania Colony, he bestowed this blessing on its crowning city, Philadelphia:

“And thou Philadelphia the virgin settlement of this province named before thou wert born, what care, what service, what travail have there been to bring thee forth and preserve thee from such as would abuse and defile thee. O that thou mayest be kept from the evil that would overwhelm thee, that faithful to the God of thy mercies in the life of righteousness, thou mayest be preserved to the end. My soul prays to God for thee that thou mayest stand in the day of trial, that thy children may be blest of the Lord and thy people saved by his power.”

Three hundred thirty one years after Penn’s dedication of Philadelphia, and a half-millennium after Luther’s Reformation, Francis is regarded by many as the model of religious tolerance.

“Fanaticism and fundamentalism, as well as irrational fears which foster misunderstanding and discrimination, need to be countered by the solidarity of all believers,” he said last year while visiting Turkey.

And at an interfaith conference in May, he urged Christian leaders to defend the freedom of religious expression against a “misguided principle of tolerance” — to refrain from stifling anyone from the way they dress, live or worship because of their faith.

Under that directive, the Quakers and Pilgrims might have remained in Europe.

Times change. Philadelphia prepares to embrace the head of a church that 500 years ago condemned and harassed its spiritual leadership — culminating a reconciliation that has spanned five centuries.

The symbolism of his visit isn’t lost on Pope Francis. Neither should it be lost on us Pennsylvanians.