During a lunch with members of the College of Cardinals on Monday to mark the 7th anniversary of his pontificate, Pope Benedict thanked his closest advisors for all their support during both the joys and the difficulties of his Petrine ministry.
The Pope began by thanking God for the joyous days as well as what he called ‘the dark nights’ and went on to reflect about the presence of evil in the world. We can see, he said, how evil seeks to dominate our world, through cruelty and violence, but also in more subtle ways, posing as a force for good while destroying the moral foundations of society. Recalling the old fashioned use of the term ‘the Church militant’, the Pope said we must fight against evil and for this reason it is important to have friends to support us in this struggle. Recalling also the words of Our Lord, ‘Take heart, I have overcome the world’, Pope Benedict said we are on the Lord’s team and therefore we will be victorious.
Pope Benedict XVI addreses a gathering of cardinals