Vatican City (TDI): The Vatican announced on Sunday that one of Pope Francis’s popemobiles will be converted into a health clinic for the children in the Gaza Strip, fulfilling one of his wishes.
The vehicle Pope Francis used during his 2014 visit to the Holy Land would now be outfitted with diagnostic and medical emergency equipment to benefit young patients in the Gaza enclave.
According to Vatican News, Pope Francis entrusted the initiative to the Catholic aid organization, Caritas Jerusalem, months before his death.
Peter Brune, Secretary General of Caritas Sweden, said, “This is a concrete, life-saving intervention at a time when the health system in Gaza has almost completely collapsed.”
The emergency medical mobile unit will be equipped with swift infection tests and diagnostics tools, vaccines, and suture kits, as well as staffed by medical personnel.
Read More: Pope Francis Condemns Israeli Bombing in Gaza as ‘Cruelty’
The health services in the Gaza Strip have been devastated by the Israeli invasion, due to which Caritas now plans to deploy the clinic to Gaza communities without access to functioning healthcare facilities. It will be deployed once humanitarian access to Gaza is possible.
Peter Brune also added, “It’s not just a vehicle, it’s a message that the world has not forgotten about the children in Gaza.”
Vatican News further informed that since the conflict in Gaza began in October 2023, Pope Francis Gaza used to call the small Christian community and the Holy Family Church in Gaza on an almost daily basis for much of the war.
Pope Francis had several popemobiles including the one he used during his 2014 visit to Israel and the Palestinian Territories.
Read More: Pope Francis Dies on Easter Monday, Aged 88
The 88-year-old Pope passed away on April 21, after struggling with a serious attack of double pneumonia.
He was admitted to the hospital on February 14, where he received treatment for bronchitis, as well as blood transfusions, after the doctors had diagnosed low levels of platelets associated with anemia.
A conclave to elect the new pope will start on May 7.
Javaria Khalid is a writer and researcher, who specializes in Pakistan's Foreign Policy Analysis, transatlantic geopolitics, and Pakistan’s relations with the European countries and the EU. She can be reached at javariakhalid011@outlook.com
