Joe O’Hare had a quick, nimble mind that was the master of its own house. No one has ever accused him of being “predictably anything.”

Matt Malone, S.J., remembered Father O’Hare as a “towering figure in the history of America magazine…insightful, warm and friendly, a world-class raconteur with a spellbinding Irish charm.”

“The governments that face the crisis in this way show the priority of their decisions: the people first.... It would be sad if they opted for the opposite, which would lead to the death of very many people.”

Pope Francis prayed that “the common effort” against the coronavirus pandemic would make people realize “our need for fraternal bonds as members of one only family.” 

Pope Francis and his closest collaborators do not have Covid-19, but a sixth employee has tested positive, following tests carried out “on more than 170 employees of the Holy See.”

In the first special coronavirus update episode of “Inside the Vatican,” veteran Vatican reporter Gerard O’Connell and producer Colleen Dulle discuss Pope Francis’ unprecedented “urbi et orbi” blessing given Friday, March 27.