Pope Francis' Car To Be Turned Into A Health Clinic For Children In Gaza

JAKARTA - One of Pope Francis' cars will be converted into a mobile health clinic for children in the Gaza Strip, fulfilling one of his last wishes, the Vatican's official media statement said on Sunday.

The vehicle used by the late Pope during his visit to the Holy Land, Bethlehem, in 2014 will be equipped with emergency diagnostic and medical equipment to help young patients in the Palestinian enclave, where health services were destroyed by the Israeli invasion.

Pope Francis, who died last month, entrusted the initiative to Catholic aid organization Caritas Jerusalem months before his death, according to Vatican News.

"This is a concrete intervention that saves lives as Gaza's health system closes to collapse," Caritas Secretary-General Peter Brune, who supports the project, told Vatican News.

The mobile unit will be equipped with rapid infection tests, vaccines, diagnostic equipment and wound sewing, and managed by medical personnel.

Caritas plans to deploy the clinic to people who do not have access to health facilities that function once humanitarian access to Gaza allows.

"This is not just a vehicle," said Brune.

"This is a message, the world does not forget the children in Gaza," added Brune.

Gaza has a Christian community. The Vatican says the late Pope Francis used to call the Kudus Family Church in Gaza almost every day during the latest war broke out on October 7, 2023.

Pope Francis is known to own a number of Pope's cars, with cars used during a 2014 visit to Israel and the Palestinian Territories remained in the region after he returned to the Vatican.