'Popemobile' Turns Into Health Clinic For Gaza's Children, As Pope Francis Wished

One of the pontiff's final requests before he died, the mobile health clinic also serves as a symbol of his long-held dedication to the Palestinian people.

One of Pope Francis’ “popemobiles” is being turned into a mobile health clinic for Gaza’s wounded and starving children — one of the pontiff’s last wishes before he died and a symbol of his long-held dedication to the Palestinian people.

Francis used the popemobile during his 2014 pilgrimage of the Holy Land, which includes Israel and the Palestinian territories. Before his April 21 death, the 88-year-old pope asked Catholic aid network Caritas to use that popemobile to aid Palestinian families struggling to survive in war-torn Gaza, the Vatican News reported Sunday.

“This vehicle represents the love, care and closeness that His Holiness Pope Francis showed to the most vulnerable, something he expressed throughout the crisis,” Caritas Jerusalem Secretary General Anton Asfar said in a statement.

Israeli forces have killed tens of thousands of Palestinians in ongoing military campaigns that follow the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel by Hamas. In addition to strikes, the Israeli military also has targeted health and aid workers, destroyed life-sustaining infrastructure and indefinitely blocked humanitarian assistance from entering the occupied territory.

The result — disease, starvation, infections, amputations, congenital disabilities and hypothermia — has exacerbated the crisis, particularly for Gaza’s children, who make up roughly half the territory’s population. Francis had specifically advocated for Gaza’s youth, saying in January that anyone who harms children will have to answer to God.