The retired Pope Benedict said: “Modern society is in the process of formulating an anti-Christian creed, and resisting this creed is punished by social excommunication.”

The Cover-19 crisis has demonstrated how important it is “to give power to the supra-national institutions,” he said, suggesting that E.U. member states “take a step back in favor of the multilateral institutions and in particular the [European] Commission and the Central European Bank.”

Fra’ Giacomo led the 1,000-year-old sovereign order following an institutional crisis that caused deep internal fractures and a confrontation with the Holy See.

Cardinal Willem Eijk of Utrecht, president of the Bishops' Conference of the Netherlands, said, however, the court's ruling would not only make it easier for doctors to take the lives of dementia patients but would also put them under pressure to do so.

As of May 4, small funerals will be allowed, individuals will be permitted to visit family members, most factories will reopen and people will be able to go to a restaurant to order food to take away.

Pontifical Salesian University, which has been conducting classes online since March 5, houses some 280 members of six religious orders.