The Brothers of Charity were informed of the Vatican decision in a letter co-signed by Cardinal Luis Ladaria Ferrer, doctrinal congregation prefect, and Archbishop Giacomo Morandi, doctrinal congregation secretary.

In Italy, which still has the highest death toll in Europe, small weddings and funerals are allowed, but restaurants, gyms and churches will be the last to reopen at the end of the month.

The Italian bishops' conference are trying to find ways to provide needed care and programs for children and adolescents during the pandemic.

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.