In his speech of good wishes to the Pontiff, card. Angelo Sodano also made reference to some of Benedict XVI’s special actions of 2006: the one "of last July, during the war in the beloved Lebanese country", as well as his indefatigable appeals "for peace in the Middle East, especially in the Holy Land, where a senseless conflict keeps torturing those populations". The Dean of the Sacred College also mentioned the words the Pope spoke at the ecclesial meeting of Verona, as he spoke of the "strong bond that came to life within the Church in the first centuries, between an intelligence-loving faith and a practice of life that stands out for a mutual love and loving care for the poor and the suffering, (which) made possible the first great missionary expansion of Christianity in the Hellenistic-Roman world". In mentioning "the presence of evil in history" as well as "Christ’s unfailing help", Sodano quoted the phrase "God does not fail", said by Benedict XVI in his recent speech to the Swiss Bishops, as a good wish for 2007.
