Pope Francis’s last gift to Gaza: his papamobo turned into ambulance

Before his death, Pope Francis donated one of his papamobiles to be converted into a mobile clinic aimed at attending the children of Gaza, one of the populations most affected by war and the humanitarian crisis in the Middle East.

As explained to ACI Press Peter Brune, general secretary of Cáritas Sweden and one of the drivers of the project, it is the Papamóvil that the Pontiff used during his visit to Bethlehem in May 2014, during his historic trip to the Holy Land. “Since then, the vehicle had been on display in a public square in the Palestinian city,” he said.

“The papamobile has reconditioned and improved to fulfill a new and hopeful mission: to provide medical assistance to injured and malnourished children who do not have access to any type of health care today,” Brune said.

The initiative was personally entrusted by the Pontiff to Caritas Jerusalem in the last months of his life to respond to the very serious humanitarian emergency in Gaza, where almost one million children live displaced, without access to food, drinking water or basic medical care, in the middle of the conflict with Israel.

Under the name Vehicle of Hope (Vehicle of Hope), Papamóvil is being equipped with essential medical instruments: rapid diagnostic kits, suture materials, syringes, vaccines, oxygen, refrigerated medications and other vital supplies.

The clinic will be operated by drivers and trained medical staff of Caritas Jerusalem, organization with long experience in the region.

“This is a concrete intervention and that saves lives, at a time when the health system in Gaza is practically collapsed,” Brune emphasized.

The mobile pediatric clinic may be deployed in the Palestinian territory as soon as humanitarian access is restored, with the mission of “offering basic attention in the most isolated areas and reminding the world that the rights and dignity of children must be protected, always,” Brune explained.

“It is not just a medical medium, but a symbol that the world has not forgotten Gaza’s children,” Brune added.

For his part, in a statement, the Secretary General of Cáritas Jerusalem, Anton Asfar, said that the vehicle donated by Pope Francis represents “love, care and closeness that his holiness showed towards the most vulnerable throughout the crisis.”

The last time Pope Francis went up to a Papamóvil was on Sunday, April 20, only one day before his death. Despite his delicate state of health, he wanted to travel once again the Plaza de San Pedro to greet the faithful after imparting their blessing City and the World. During that emotional route, he asked to stop the vehicle on several occasions to bless a child sick of cancer and several babies.