One of Pope Francis’ pools is being transformed into a mobile health clinic for children in the Gaza Strip, fulfilling one of the last wishes of the Pontiff, the Vatican’s official media said on Sunday (4).
The vehicle, used by the late Pope during a visit to the Holy Land in 2014, is being equipped with diagnostic and emergency medical utensils to help young patients in Palestinian territory, where health services were devastated by the Israeli invasion.
Pope Francis, who died last month, entrusted the initiative to the Catholic Organization of Caritas Assistance Jerusalem in the months prior to his death, Vatican News said.
“This is a concrete and vital intervention at a time when the health system in Gaza has collapsed almost total,” said Peter Brune, secretary general of Caritas Sweden, who supports the project, to Vatican News.
The mobile unit will be equipped with rapid infection tests, vaccines, diagnostic tools and suture kits, as well as having medical staff.
Caritas plans to bring the clinic to communities without access to health facilities in operation as soon as humanitarian access to Gaza is viable.
“It’s not just a vehicle,” Brune added. “It’s a message that the world has not forgotten children in Gaza.”
Gaza has a small Christian community and the Vatican stated that Francis used to call the Holy Family Church in Gaza almost daily for much of the war, which began in October 2023, when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel.
Francisco had several Paparmóveis, with the one used on the 2014 visit to Israel and Palestinian territories remaining in the region after his return to the Vatican.
A conclave to elect a new Pope begins on May 7th.
This content was originally published in Paparmobile will become a mobile health clinic for children in Gaza on CNN Brazil.
Source: CNN Brasil
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