One of the popemobiles used by Pope Francis during a 2014 visit to Bethlehem is being converted into a mobile health clinic for children in Gaza, fulfilling one of his final wishes, Vatican News reported Sunday.
The vehicle, which the pope rode during a historic visit to the occupied West Bank, is being outfitted with diagnostic and emergency medical equipment to serve children in the besieged Gaza Strip, where access to healthcare has collapsed amid relentless Israeli bombardment and the deterioration of health services as a result of the Israeli blockade of the Strip.
"This was his final wish for the people to whom he had shown such solidarity throughout his pontificate, especially in the last years. ," the Vatican outlet said.
According to the report, the converted popemobile will be equipped with rapid infection tests, vaccines, diagnostic tools and wound suturing kits. It will be staffed by a medical team and deployed to areas without functioning clinics as soon as humanitarian access to Gaza is secured.
Pope Francis entrusted the initiative to Caritas Jerusalem, a humanitarian and development organization affiliated with the Catholic Church, to help respond to the worsening conditions in Gaza. Nearly 1 million children have been displaced in the war, which has devastated infrastructure, crippled healthcare, and halted education.
"Pope Francis often stated that children are not numbers. They are faces. Names. Stories. And each one is sacred," the report noted.
Peter Brune, Secretary General of Caritas Sweden, which supports the project, wrote in a press release that “with the vehicle, we will be able to reach children who today have no access to health care – children who are injured and malnourished”.
"This is a concrete, life-saving intervention at a time when the health system in Gaza has almost completely collapsed”, he added.
Pope Francis died on April 21 at the age of 88 in his residence at the Saint Martha guesthouse in the Vatican, following a rapid decline in health that began on February 14.
During his papacy, Francis repeatedly expressed sorrow over the situation in Gaza, condemning an Israeli airstrike that killed seven children from one family in northern Gaza.
According to the BBC, Pope Francis, as head of the Roman Catholic Church, was generally cautious in taking positions on global conflicts. However, he was notably more direct regarding the Israeli war on Gaza.
In excerpts from his memoir published in November, he called for a "careful study" into whether the situation in Gaza "meets the technical definition" of genocide.
