Francis' 'pope-mobile' being converted into Gaza mobile clinic

The Vatican confirmed that Pope Francis’ "pope-mobile" – a conveyance outfitted to support the pontiff during his 2014 travel to the birthplace of Jesus Christ – is being converted into a mobile children's session successful Gaza according to the Holy Father’s dying wish. 

The Catholic non-profit enactment Caritas Jerusalem made the announcement connected Sunday. 

In a property release, the non-profit said that Francis directed the humanitarian enactment successful his last months to "turn his pope-mobile into a mobile wellness presumption for the children successful Gaza." 

"The intent of the inaugural is to safeguard and uphold children’s cardinal rights and dignity," Caritas Jerusalem wrote, releasing the archetypal photos of the converted pope-mobile. 

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Pope Francis waves to the assemblage from wrong his pope-mobile arsenic helium arrives astatine Manger Square to observe an open-air wide connected May 25, 2014, successful the West Bank Biblical municipality of Bethlehem.  (Vincenzo Pinto/AFP via Getty Images)

Peter Brune, Secretary General of Caritas Sweden, which is supporting the initiative, said the conveyance "will beryllium capable to scope children who contiguous person nary entree to healthcare – children who are injured and malnourished." 

"This is concrete, life-saving involution astatine a clip erstwhile the wellness strategy successful Gaza has astir wholly collapsed," Brune said successful a statement. "It’s not conscionable a vehicle, it’s a connection that the satellite has not forgotten astir the children successful Gaza." 

"The conveyance represents the love, attraction and closeness shown by His Holiness for the astir vulnerable, which helium expressed passim the crisis," Secretary General of Caritas Jerusalem Anton Asfar said successful a statement. 

Swedish Cardinal Anders Arborelius – a contender to go the adjacent pope aft Francis' passing connected April 21 – besides confirmed the repurposing of the pope-mobile to the New York Times. 

"The papamobile is simply a precise factual motion that Pope Francis is acrophobic with each the suffering of children successful Gaza, adjacent aft his death!" Arborelius wrote to the Times. 

The aforesaid Catholic foundation web handling the "pope-mobile" task notably slammed the Trump administration's cuts to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) successful February. 

"Stopping USAID abruptly volition termination millions of radical and condemn hundreds of millions much to lives of dehumanizing poverty," Caritas Internationalis Secretary General Alistair Dutton said astatine the time. "This is an inhumane affront to people’s God-given quality dignity, that volition origin immense suffering. Killing USAID besides presents monolithic challenges for each of america successful the planetary humanitarian community, who volition person to wholly reassess whom we tin proceed to service and how."

The State Department has integrated the remaining functions of USAID, arsenic the section undergoes a monolithic restructuring. 

Pope Francis waves to the crowd, from his pope-mobile, connected May 25, 2014, extracurricular the Church of the Nativity successful the West Bank Biblical municipality of Bethlehem. (Abbas Momani/AFP via Getty Images)

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Francis approved the "pope-mobile" task successful November 2024, the Times reported. The Catholic Church was talented a new, all-electric "pope-mobile," based connected the Mercedes-Benz G-Class, an SUV, successful December, according to USA Today. 

Vatican News, the authoritative quality root of the Vatican, besides picked up the announcement. The conveyance volition beryllium staffed "by a operator and aesculapian doctors" and is presently being fitted with instrumentality for diagnosis, introspection and treatment, including accelerated tests for infections, suture kits, syringes and needles, oxygen supply, vaccines and a refrigerator for medicines, according to the non-profit. 

"The humanitarian concern successful Gaza is progressively critical, particularly for the astir 1 cardinal displaced children," Caritas Jerusalem wrote. "When entree to food, h2o and healthcare is chopped off, children are often the archetypal and hardest hit. Starvation, corruption and different preventable conditions enactment their lives astatine risk." 

Before his passing, Francis "made his pope-mobile disposable to Caritas Jerusalem, which is present turning it into a mobile wellness portion for children," according to the nonprofit. "When the humanitarian corridor to Gaza reopens, it volition beryllium acceptable to springiness superior healthcare to children successful Gaza." 

Francis had repeatedly called for a cease-fire successful Gaza during the Israel-Hamas war, which began connected Oct. 7, 2023, erstwhile Hamas terrorists killed much than 1,200 radical successful Israel and took hundreds much into Gaza arsenic hostages. 

Pope Francis waves to the assemblage from wrong his pope-mobile connected his mode to Manger Square to observe an open-air wide connected May 25, 2014, successful the West Bank. (Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP via Getty Images)

The precocious pontiff has progressively condemned the Israeli military's effect and the deaths of Palestinian children. 

In his last Easter code earlier his passing, Francis said the humanitarian concern was "dramatic and deplorable." 

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"I explicit my closeness to the sufferings ... of each the Israeli radical and the Palestinian people," helium said successful a connection work aloud by an aide, according to Reuters. "I entreaty to the warring parties: telephone a ceasefire, merchandise the hostages and travel to the assistance of a starving radical that aspires to a aboriginal of peace."