Below is the full translation of Pope Benedict XVI’s Easter Urbi et Orbi message, courtesy of Vatican Radio.

“In resurrectione tua, Christe, coeli et terra laetentur!
In your resurrection, O Christ, let heaven and earth rejoice!” (Liturgy of the Hours).

Pope Benedict XVI delivers 'Urbi et Orbi' Message | Credit: AP

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Rome and across the world, Easter morning brings us news that is ancient yet ever new: Christ is risen! The echo of this event, which issued forth from Jerusalem twenty centuries ago, continues to resound in the Church, deep in whose heart lives the vibrant faith of Mary, Mother of Jesus, the faith of Mary Magdalene and the other women who first discovered the empty tomb, and the faith of Peter and the other Apostles.

Right down to our own time – even in these days of advanced communications technology – the faith of Christians is based on that same news, on the testimony of those sisters and brothers who saw firstly the stone that had been rolled away from the empty tomb and then the mysterious messengers who testified that Jesus, the Crucified, was risen. And then Jesus himself, the Lord and Master, living and tangible, appeared to Mary Magdalene, to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, and finally to all eleven, gathered in the Upper Room (cf. Mk 16:9-14).

The resurrection of Christ is not the fruit of speculation or mystical experience: it is an event which, while it surpasses history, nevertheless happens at a precise moment in history and leaves an indelible mark upon it. The light which dazzled the guards keeping watch over Jesus’ tomb has traversed time and space. It is a different kind of light, a divine light, that has rent asunder the darkness of death and has brought to the world the splendour of God, the splendour of Truth and Goodness.

Six years ago today, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected the 265th Supreme Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church, choosing the name Benedict XVI. Below, a reminder of what that day was like for Catholics around the world. Enjoy!

Credit: Reuters

Over the last week or two, the conflict gripping Libya has been in the forefront of most American and international news agencies. In the United States, the debate has surrounded whether or not President Barack Obama had the constitutional authority to commit U.S. armed forces personnel to the international response approved by the United Nations. However, I raised a more important question: is the use of military force in Libya moral?

Until this afternoon, the Holy See has been rather neutral on the conflict in Libya. The only public statements released from the Pope have been those offering prayers and solidarity with the people of the region. The Holy Father has also asked those in positions of military and political responsibilities to ensure the safety of civilians and the accessibility of humanitarian aid. However, today we see a different tone from the Vatican, one that is calling the current use of force into question.

Following the middy Angelus prayer in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Benedict XVI released the following statement regarding the situation in Libya:

Pope Benedict XVI ordains a priest in Rome | Credit: Getty Images

Article 6. The Sacrament of Holy Orders

III. The Three Degrees of the Sacrament of Holy Orders

Episcopal ordination—fullness of the sacrament of Holy Orders (cont’d)

(1561) The above considerations explain why the Eucharist celebrated by the bishop has a quite special significance as an expression of the Church gathered around the altar, with the one who represents Christ, the Good Shepherd and Head of his Church, presiding.

The ordination of priests—co-workers of the bishops

(1562) “Christ, whom the Father hallowed and sent into the world, has, through his apostles, made their successors, the bishops namely, sharers in his consecration and mission; and these, in their turn, duly entrusted in varying degrees various members of the Church with the office of their ministry.” “The function of the bishops’ ministry was handed over in a subordinate degree to priests so that they might be appointed in the order of the priesthood and be co-workers of the episcopal order for the proper fulfillment of the apostolic mission that had been entrusted to it by Christ.”

(1563) “Because it is joined with the episcopal order the office of priests shares in the authority by which Christ himself builds up and sanctifies and rules his Body. Hence the priesthood of priests, while presupposing the sacraments of initiation, is nevertheless conferred by its own particular sacrament. Through that sacrament priests by the anointing of the Holy Spirit are signed with a special character and so are configured to Christ the priest in such a way that they are able to act in the person of Christ the head.”

Traditional Anglican Communion Mass | Source: The Anglo-Catholic

On November 4, 2009, Pope Benedict XVI released the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus, which allows the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to establish personal ordinariates for Anglicans wishing to enter into full communion with the Catholic Church.

Within the document, the Holy Father stated the reason for the establishment of these ordinariates at this time in history. He writes:

In recent times the Holy Spirit has moved groups of Anglicans to petition repeatedly and insistently to be received into full Catholic communion individually as well as corporately. The Apostolic See has responded favourably to such petitions. Indeed, the successor of Peter, mandated by the Lord Jesus to guarantee the unity of the episcopate and to preside over and safeguard the universal communion of all the Churches, could not fail to make available the means necessary to bring this holy desire to realization.

The Apostolic Constitution outlines the rules and procedures for those Anglican bishops, priests and deacons who wish to continue ministry in the established ordinariate. According to Anglicanorum Coetibus: