Pope Francis donated a popemobile to serve as a mobile health unit for Gaza children

Pope Francis arrives on the popemobile to meet with members of the Comunione e Liberazione (Communion and Liberation) Catholic lay movement in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Oct.15, 2022. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

VATICAN CITY — Before he died, Pope Francis donated one of his popemobiles to be converted into a mobile health unit to serve the children of Gaza, officials said Monday.

The Jerusalem and Sweden branches of the Vatican’s Caritas charitable federation released photos of the repurposed vehicle on Monday. There is no word, though, on when it might be put to use. The donation was announced on the same day that Israel approved plans to seize the Gaza Strip and to stay in the Palestinian territory for an unspecified amount of time.

“When the humanitarian corridor to Gaza reopens, it (the popemobile) will be ready to give primary healthcare to children in Gaza,” Caritas Jerusalem said in a statement.

The vehicle will be outfitted with equipment for diagnosis, examination, and treatment. Caritas said it would have testing equipment, suture kits, syringes and needles, oxygen supply, vaccines, and a refrigerator.

“This vehicle represents the love, care and closeness shown by His Holiness for the most vulnerable, which he expressed throughout the crisis,” the secretary general of Caritas Jerusalem, Anton Asfar, said in a statement.

During Israel’s war in Gaza, Francis became increasingly outspoken in his criticism of the Israeli military’s harsh tactics while also demanding the return of hostages taken by Hamas on Oct. 7. Last year, he urged an investigation into whether Israel’s war amounted to genocide -– a charge Israel vehemently denies.

He repeatedly spoke out about the plight of people in Gaza, and had a nightly ritual that he even maintained while he was in the hospital in February with pneumonia: he would call the lone Catholic church in the Gaza Strip to see how people huddled inside were coping.

Francis died April 21 at age 88.

The Associated Press