Fact Check: What we know about Pope Francis donating popemobile to children in Gaza before he died
Claim:
Pope Francis donated a "popemobile," one of the vehicles he used for transportation, to a Catholic relief organization to convert the vehicle into a mobile health unit for children in Gaza.
Rating:
Shortly after Pope Francis' death in April 2025, rumors that he donated one of the "popemobiles" — the vehicle used to transport popes — to serve as a mobile medical aid clinic to children in Gaza. The claims spread on X (archived), Instagram (archived), Bluesky (archived) and Facebook (archived).
The rumors are true, although the headlines on several stories said the late pope donated "his Popemobile," which some readers could interpret to mean there was only one such vehicle. It's unclear precisely how many "popemobiles" Pope Francis used, but Business Insider reported in 2019 that he rode in at least nine of them that year.
In a news release on May 3, 2025, the Jerusalem and Swedish branches of Caritas — an international group of Catholic relief and development agencies — announced that the pope had donated the vehicle to the organization.
https://media.snopes.com/2025/05/caritas_press_release.pdf
We reached out to Caritas Jerusalem seeking further details, and a representative responded that the timeline for the vehicle to enter Gaza depends on when the organization applies for a permit to do so. The organization also said it cannot provide further evidence that Pope Francis requested the conversion of the vehicle.
The official news outlet for the Vatican, Vatican News, also published an article (archived) on May 4 confirming Pope Francis' donation, publishing photos from Caritas of the vehicle's conversion process.
Men work on turning the popemobile into a health clinic. (Caritas)
The news release noted that a driver and doctors would staff the vehicle, which Caritas was in the process of fitting with "equipment for diagnosis, examination, and treatment — including rapid tests for infections, suture kits, syringes and needles, oxygen supply, vaccines, and a refrigerator for medicines."
However, it was unclear when the popemobile would be able to hit the ground in Gaza, as Israel cut off all humanitarian aid to Gaza on March 2, 2025. The Caritas news release noted that the popemobile would be ready to give primary health care to children in Gaza "when the humanitarian corridor to Gaza reopens."
Caritas PRESS RELEASE. Caritas, 3 May 2025, https://www.caritas.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Pressrelease_The_Vehicle_of_Hope-CJRM-May-3rd-2025-1.pdf.
'Israel Accused of Using Aid as a "weapon of War" against Gaza in World Court Hearing'. NBC News, 29 Apr. 2025, https://www.nbcnews.com/world/middle-east/israel-aid-weapon-war-icj-hearing-gaza-world-court-hague-law-rcna203447.
'Pope Francis Donated a Popemobile to Serve as a Mobile Health Unit for Gaza Children'. AP News, 5 May 2025, https://apnews.com/article/pope-francis-popemobile-gaza-children-caritas-vatican-83fa693f8fe605e89960a810e08afaad.
The Popemobile of Peace: Pope Francis' Final Gift to Gaza - Vatican News. 4 May 2025, https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2025-05/the-popemobile-of-peace-pope-francis-final-gift-to-gaza.html.
'Who We Are'. Caritas, https://www.caritas.org/who-we-are/. Accessed 6 May 2025.
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