BBC REPRTS: Popemobile becomes a mobile health clinic for Gaza children

An iconic Popemobile belonging to the late Pope Francis has been turned into a mobile medical clinic for children in the war-torn Gaza Strip. 

Aid workers say it has a practical purpose and also serves as a symbol of goodwill. 

The BBC's Middle East Correspondent, Yolande Knell, went to Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank to see the newly converted vehicle.

Pope Mobile Disulap Jadi Mobil Klinik untuk Anak-anak Gaza

朝日新聞は、故フランシスコ教皇が2014年のベツレヘム訪問で使用した日本製のパパモビル（三菱自動車製）が、ガザ地区の子どもたちを支援するための移動診療所として生まれ変わったと報じました。長らく使用されていなかったこの車両は「希望の乗り物」と名付けられ、25日に現地で披露されました。戦時下にある子どもたちへ医療と希望を届けるため、新たな役割を担います

a voiturette utilisée par le pape François lors d'un voyage en Terre sainte est réapparue mardi dans les rues de Bethléem, en Cisjordanie occupée, cette fois-ci réaménagée en clinique mobile pour les enfants de la bande de Gaza.

"Le “Véhicule de l'Espoir” est prêt pour sa nouvelle mission", a lancé le cardinal Anders Arborelius, évêque de Stockholm, devant des journalistes venus assister à la présentation de cette nouvelle version de la "papamobile".

C'est lui qui a béni la petite voiture empruntée par le pape François lors de sa venue dans les Territoires palestiniens en 2014, après que la branche suédoise de l'ONG catholique Caritas l'a réhabilitée.

El papamóvil que utilizó el difunto papa Francisco durante su visita a Belén en 2014 llegó este martes a dicha ciudad, reconvertido ahora en una clínica itinerante destinada a Gaza. El vehículo ha sido habilitado y protegido para atender a pacientes en zona de guerra, especialmente niños, cumpliendo así uno de los últimos deseos del Pontífice antes de su fallecimiento el pasado mes de abril. Sin embargo, a pesar de estar listo, el transporte todavía espera la autorización de las autoridades israelíes para poder acceder a la Franja.

Late pope blessed project to repurpose the Mitsubishi pickup truck he used during his 2014 West Bank visit; Israel says it hasn’t received a request for vehicle to enter Strip.

The Catholic aid organization Caritas Internationalis unveiled in Bethlehem Tuesday the “Vehicle of Hope” — a “popemobile” used by the late pope Francis, refitted as a mobile pediatric clinic for wounded children in Gaza.

The popemobile used by the late pope Francis on his 2014 visit to Bethlehem re-emerged on Tuesday as a mobile children's clinic to be deployed in Gaza.

REUTERS. A vehicle used by the late Pope Francis during a visit to Bethlehem more than a decade ago has been transformed into a mobile health clinic that Christian leaders hope will soon be used to provide care to Palestinian children in Gaza.

5 May 2025

Tiffany Wertheimer

BBC News

The vehicle is being refitted and will be ready for when the humanitarian corridor is reopened into Gaza, Caritas Jerusalem said

One of Francis' popemobiles, which the late pontiff used to greet thousands of people, will be turned into a mobile health clinic to help the children of Gaza.

Following a request by Pope Francis, the vehicle used during his visit to Bethlehem in 2014 is being refitted with everything needed for frontline care in a war zone, charity organisation Caritas, which is overseeing the project, said.

"There'll be rapid tests, suture kits, syringes, oxygen supplies, vaccines and a small fridge for storing medicines," it explained in a statement.

The Vatican said it was the pope's "final wish for the children of Gaza" before he died last month. The vehicle is currently in Bethlehem, and will enter Gaza if and when Israel opens a humanitarian corridor.

ADVERTISEMENT

The war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip has killed more than 15,000 children and displaced nearly one million since it erupted in October 2023, Unicef reports. 

Israel has blocked humanitarian aid from entering the Strip for more than two months, which has left "families struggling to survive" as food, clean water and medicines reach critically low levels, the UN agency for children said.

For now, Caritas will have to wait until Israel reopens the aid corridor - but when that happens, they say they will be ready.

"With the vehicle, we will be able to reach children who today have no access to health care – children who are injured and malnourished," Peter Brune, Secretary General of Caritas Sweden, said in a statement.

A team of doctors will run the mobile clinic, which will have the capabilities to examine and treat patients, and there will be a dedicated driver. Some details are still being finalised, like how to make the vehicle safe from potential blasts, Mr Brune told the BBC.

"It's not just a vehicle, it's a message that the world has not forgotten about the children in Gaza," he said.

Throughout his pontificate, Pope Francis made many impassioned remarks on the war in Gaza, calling the humanitarian situation in the Strip "shamefull". During his final speech on Easter Sunday, he urged all "warring parties" to agree to a ceasefire and spoke of the suffering of Palestinians and Israelis. 

During 18 months of war, he reportedly called parishioners in Gaza nightly to check on their wellbeing, and suggested that the international community should examine whether Israel's military offensive in Gaza should be classed as genocide – an allegation Israel has vehemently denied.

READ THE ARTICLE HERE

May 5, 2025

The vehicle, which Francis used during a 2014 visit to the West Bank, will be turned into a health clinic on wheels designed to treat Palestinian children.

“With the vehicle, we will be able to reach children who today have no access to health care — children who are injured and malnourished,” says Peter Brune, secretary general of Caritas Sweden. (Caritas Jerusalem)

By Annabelle Timsit

Pope Francis, who in his final year of life developed a special connection with the people of Gaza and especially the enclave’s small Christian community, left its people a parting gift: his popemobile.

Get concise answers to your questions. Try Ask The Post AI.

Before his death last month at the age of 88, Francis directed the Catholic relief organization Caritas to turn the vehicle, which he used during a 2014 visit to the West Bank, into a mobile clinic to treat Palestinian children.

Francis approved the initiative, labeled “Vehicle of Hope,” and prayed for its success, according to a November 2024 letter written by a senior Vatican official reviewed by The Washington Post.

“With the vehicle, we will be able to reach children who today have no access to health care — children who are injured and malnourished,” said Peter Brune, secretary general of Caritas Sweden, which is supporting the initiative. “This is a concrete, lifesaving intervention at a time when the health system in Gaza has almost completely collapsed.”It all begins with an idea. READ THE ARTICLE HERE.

May 4, 2025 2:46pm EDT

The Vatican confirmed that Pope Francis’ "pope-mobile" – a vehicle outfitted to protect the pontiff during his 2014 trip to the birthplace of Jesus Christ – is being converted into a mobile children's clinic in Gaza according to the Holy Father’s dying wish. 

The Catholic non-profit organization Caritas Jerusalem made the announcement on Sunday. 

In a press release, the non-profit said that Francis directed the humanitarian organization in his final months to "turn his pope-mobile into a mobile health station for the children in Gaza." 

"The purpose of the initiative is to safeguard and uphold children’s fundamental rights and dignity," Caritas Jerusalem wrote, releasing the first photos of the converted pope-mobile. 

In his last months, Pope Francis blessed an effort to transform the vehicle he used when he visited the West Bank in 2014 into a mobile health clinic to treat Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip.

By Adam Rasgon

Reporting from Jerusalem

May 4, 2025

When Pope Francis visited Bethlehem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank in 2014, he crisscrossed the traditional birthplace of Jesus in a white popemobile manufactured especially for his visit.

Now, the vehicle is being transformed into a mobile health clinic to treat ill and wounded Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip — an initiative that Pope Francis blessed in the months before he died.

While the clinic will serve only a limited number of Palestinians in Gaza, Pope Francis’s personal involvement in the project reflected his commitment to Palestinian civilians caught in the crossfire between Israel and Hamas, particularly children, in more than 18 months of war.

“The papamobile is a very concrete sign that Pope Francis is concerned with all the suffering of children in Gaza, even after his death!” Cardinal Anders Arborelius of Sweden said in an email on Monday. Read the article here.