Pope likens materialism to ‘dragon’ of evil

Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday lashed out against the “dragon” of materialism that has seized much of the world but said God was more powerful than the seemingly “invincible” trend. While celebrating the Feast of the Assumption marking the Virgin Mary’s ascension into heaven, the pope invoked the “red dragon” of evil which figures in the New Testament. The pontiff said the “red dragon” had been embodied in “the great dictatorships of the past century: Nazism and Stalinism.”