Pope Francis donates popemobile to serve as mobile health unit for children in Gaza
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The late Pope Francis has donated one of his popemobiles to be converted into a mobile health unit to serve the children of Gaza, charity officials have said.
The Jerusalem and Sweden branches of the Vatican's Caritas charitable federation released photos of the repurposed vehicle on Monday.
There has been no word on when the vehicle might be put to use.
The donation was announced on the same day that Israel approved plans to seize the entire Gaza Strip and to stay in the Palestinian territory for an unspecified amount of time.
Children in Gaza showing signs of malnutrition in Khan Younis, 2 May, 2025
AP Photo
"When the humanitarian corridor to Gaza reopens, it (the popemobile) will be ready to give primary healthcare to children in Gaza," Caritas Jerusalem said in a statement.
The vehicle will be outfitted with equipment for diagnosis, examination, and treatment.
Caritas said it would have testing equipment, suture kits, syringes and needles, oxygen supply, vaccines and a refrigerator.
"This vehicle represents the love, care and closeness shown by His Holiness for the most vulnerable, which he expressed throughout the crisis," the secretary general of Caritas Jerusalem, Anton Asfar, said in a statement.
During Israel's war in Gaza, Pope Francis became increasingly outspoken in his criticism of the IDF's harsh tactics while also demanding the return of hostages taken by Hamas on 7 October 2023.
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Last year, he urged an investigation into whether Israel's war in the enclave amounted to genocide, a charge Israel vehemently denied.
He repeatedly spoke out about the plight of people in Gaza and had a nightly ritual that he even maintained while he was in the hospital in February with pneumonia: he would call the lone Catholic church in the Strip to see how people huddled inside were coping.
Pope Francis died on 21 April at the age of 88.
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