Pope Francis’s popemobile set to become health clinic for Gaza children

Published
0

One of Pope Francis’s popemobiles is being transformed into a mobile health clinic for children in the Gaza Strip, fulfilling one of his final wishes, the Vatican’s official media outlet said, Reuters reports.

The vehicle, used by the late pontiff during his 2014 visit to the Holy Land, is being outfitted with diagnostic and emergency medical equipment to help young patients in the Palestinian enclave, where health services have been devastated by the Israeli invasion.

Pope Francis, who died last month, entrusted the initiative to the Catholic aid organisation Caritas Jerusalem in the months before his death, Vatican News said.

“This is a concrete, life-saving intervention at a time when the health system in Gaza has almost completely collapsed,” Peter Brune, Secretary General of Caritas Sweden, which is supporting the project, told Vatican News.

The mobile unit will be equipped with rapid infection tests, vaccines, diagnostic tools, and suture kits, and staffed by medical personnel. Caritas plans to deploy the clinic to communities without access to functioning healthcare facilities once humanitarian access to Gaza is feasible.

“It’s not just a vehicle,” Brune added. “It’s a message that the world has not forgotten about the children in Gaza.”

Opinion

Editorial

State of confusion
Updated 05 Aug, 2026

State of confusion

FROM the looks of it, America has no exit strategy to extricate itself from the disastrous war with Iran. US...
Pension decision
05 Aug, 2026

Pension decision

THE government’s decision to formally operationalise the new Defined Contribution Pension Fund Scheme is a step...
Preventable deaths
05 Aug, 2026

Preventable deaths

THE deaths of 144 children from measles and diphtheria in Karachi during the first seven months of the year expose a...
Swat bombing
Updated 04 Aug, 2026

Swat bombing

IT is a bitter irony that terrorists struck a protest against violence in Swat on Sunday, causing at least 17...
Tariff blow
04 Aug, 2026

Tariff blow

FOR an export sector already squeezed by high production costs, the additional 10pc tariff on top of the existing...
Perilous peaks
04 Aug, 2026

Perilous peaks

THE deaths of 10 climbers in an avalanche on Broad Peak is a sad reminder of the perils that many mountaineers face...