Before his death, Pope Francis donated one of his Popemobiles to be converted into a children’s clinic in war-torn Gaza, Catholic charity Caritas said on Monday.
The iconic open-sided vehicle, designed to allow the pontiff to greet crowds of well-wishers, has been transferred to Caritas Jerusalem and will head to Gaza if and when Israel opens a humanitarian corridor.
“With the vehicle, we will be able to reach children who today have no access to healthcare – children who are injured and malnourished,” said Peter Brune, secretary general of Caritas Sweden.
Brune said Sweden’s Cardinal Anders Arborelius had asked the late pope, who died on April 21 aged 88, that the spare vehicle be put to use providing essential frontline healthcare to Palestinian children.
It will be fitted with medical equipment and a fridge for medicines and be assigned a driver and a team of doctors.
