Pope Francis's last gift: Popemobile to become health clinic for Gaza

One of Pope Francis's popemobiles, used during his visit to Bethlehem in 2014, is being refitted with everything needed for frontline care in Gaza strip

A popemobile, formerly used by Pope Francis, is being converted into a mobile healthcare unit for children in Gaza, the Vatican’s official media outlet said. As one of his last wishes before death, Pope Francis designated the popemobile from his 2014 pilgrimage of the Holy Lands to the Catholic aid organisation Caritas Jerusalem to address the severe humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

 

Caritas is transforming the vehicle into a mobile health station by equipping it with medical devices for examination and treatment of children.

 

According to Caritas, once safe access to Gaza becomes possible, the wheeled clinic, staffed with physicians and medical personnel, will be deployed to communities without functioning healthcare facilities.

 

 

The Pope specifically requested that the vehicle serve injured and malnourished children in the conflict-ravaged Palestinian territory.

 

The war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip has killed over 15,000 children and displaced nearly one million people since the beginning in October 2023, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef). The UN children’s agency reports that Israel has prevented humanitarian assistance from entering Gaza for more than two months, as essential supplies, including food, clean water, and medicine, reach dangerously low levels.

 

During his papacy, Pope Francis frequently made passionate statements on the Gaza war, describing the humanitarian conditions in the territory as “shameful”. In his last Easter Sunday address, he called for all parties to implement a ceasefire and highlighted the suffering of both Palestinians and Israelis.

 

During 18 months of war, Pope Francis had been making nightly calls to the Holy Family Church – Gaza’s only Catholic church – to check on their well-being.

 

Pope Francis dies after long illness 

Francis, the first Latin American and first Jesuit pope, died Easter Monday at age 88 after suffering a stroke while recovering at home from pneumonia. Pope Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, held the position of the 266th pontiff of the Catholic Church. During his leadership, Pope Francis publicly supported LGBTQIA+ individuals’ rights, stressed the importance of tackling climate change, addressed the worldwide refugee situation, and urged the Church to ask for forgiveness for its involvement in the “scourge” of child sexual abuse.

 

Conclave to elect new pope to begin May 7 

Catholic cardinals set May 7 as the start date for the conclave to elect Pope Francis’ successor. Many cardinals cited the desire to continue Francis’ pastoral focus on people who are marginalised and against war. But conservatives in the ranks may be more focused on taking the church back to core doctrines emphasised by St John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI.