FULFILLING one of Pope Francis’ last wishes, a popemobile from his official fleet is being repurposed to a mobile clinic to serve children in the Gaza Strip. 

This was confirmed by the official Vatican media outlet on Sunday. 

The popemobile is the same vehicle the late Pope Francis used during his 2014 pilgrimage to Israel. Before his passing, he entrusted it to Caritas Jerusalem—the Catholic aid organization operating in Gaza—to be repurposed for humanitarian aid and emergency response.

He specifically asked it to be utilized to provide help for malnourished and injured Palestinian children. 

“This is a concrete, life-saving intervention at a time when the health system in Gaza has almost completely collapsed,” said the Secretary General of Caritas Sweden, Peter Brune, during an interview with the Vatican News. 

Brune is one of those supporting the project. 

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

The mobile health station will be equipped with medical tools and supplies for diagnosing, treating, and examining children. 

It will be staffed by doctors and medics tasked with visiting communities across Gaza to provide temporary relief amid the ongoing lack of healthcare access. 

The project will begin once safe access to the area is secured.

Through his pontificate, Pope Francis consistently championed world peace. He repeatedly urged ceasefires in the Russia-Ukraine war and the Israel-Hamas conflict. 

The late pontiff was even reportedly making nightly calls to Gaza’s only Catholic church— the Holy Family Church ever since the conflict had begun in October 2023. 

The Gazan church provided shelter for both Christians and Muslims in Gaza alike throughout the military campaigns. 

The day before his death, which consequently fell on Easter Sunday, Pope Francis made his last appeal for World Peace.