The official Vatican newspaper, which marked its 150th anniversary yesterday, stands out as “a paper of ideas” in a world increasingly dominated by secular ideology, Pope Benedict XVI said.

A Latin proverb meaning “the gates of hell shall not prevail” appears on the masthead of the Osservatore Romano, a newspaper that first hit the Vatican’s streets on July 1, 1861.

The paper was founded as a private initiative with support of the papal government.

In a congratulatory note to the paper’s current editor Giovanni Maria Vian on Thursday, the pope wrote that the modern era is “frequently marked by the lack of reference points and the removal of God from the horizon of many societies, even of those with an ancient Christian tradition.”

He said “the Holy See’s daily stands as a ‘paper of idea’”, an organ of formation and not only of information.”

In order to remain relevant, the Pope said the Osservatore must remain committed to “the constant quest for friendship and collaboration with Judaism and with the other religions” as well as to “the voice of women” and “bioethical topics”.

He applauded the paper’s staff, past and present, for making “known the magisterium of the Popes for a century and a half”.