The medical and humanitarian emergency unfolding before their eyes has made it clear that the Western health care system of centralized hospital care cannot handle this and future epidemics and needs to shift toward more community-focused care.

Brother John-Sebastian Laird-Hammond, 59, was soon to join the Franciscan friars of the Immaculate Conception Province in New York.

Many countries are characterized by huge cities containing neighborhoods that contain millions of people living close together in often highly unhygienic conditions. Even the most basic protocols for warding off COVID-19 are all but impossible to practice.

One of the chief concerns is how to provide counseling services to those who experienced the trauma of the tornado, followed by the anxiety surrounding COVID-19, when people are practicing social distancing and staying apart as much as possible.

The pope prayed for prisoners and their families who are unable to visit because of the Italian government's strict social-distancing measures.

“As long as they remain in their territories, they can be somewhat safe. But their reservations must be closed to non-indigenous persons.”