Pope Francis's popemobile set to become health clinic

5/5/2025 5:48

One of Pope Francis's

popemobiles is being transformed into a mobile health clinic for

children in the Gaza Strip, fulfilling one of his final wishes,

the Vatican's official media outlet said on Sunday.



The vehicle, used by the late pontiff during his 2014 visit

to the Holy Land, is being outfitted with diagnostic and

emergency medical equipment to help young patients in the

Palestinian enclave, where health services have been devastated

by the Israeli invasion.



Pope Francis, who died last month, entrusted the initiative

to the Catholic aid organisation Caritas Jerusalem in the months

before his death, Vatican News said.



"This is a concrete, life-saving intervention at a time when

the health system in Gaza has almost completely collapsed,"

Peter Brune, Secretary General of Caritas Sweden, which is

supporting the project, told Vatican News.



The mobile unit will be equipped with rapid infection tests,

vaccines, diagnostic tools, and suture kits, and staffed by

medical personnel. Caritas plans to deploy the clinic to

communities without access to functioning healthcare facilities

once humanitarian access to Gaza is feasible.



"It's not just a vehicle," Brune added. "It's a message that

the world has not forgotten about the children in Gaza."



Gaza has a tiny Christian community and the Vatican has said

Francis used to call the Holy Family Church in Gaza on an almost

daily basis for much of the war, which started in October 2023

when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel.



Francis had a number of popemobiles, with the one used in

the 2014 visit to Israel and the Palestinian Territories staying

in the region following his return to the Vatican.



A conclave to elect a new pope starts on May 7.