{"id":45261,"date":"2025-11-26T14:26:12","date_gmt":"2025-11-26T14:26:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/45261\/"},"modified":"2025-11-26T14:26:12","modified_gmt":"2025-11-26T14:26:12","slug":"popemobile-transformed-into-gaza-mobile-childrens-clinic-national-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/45261\/","title":{"rendered":"Popemobile transformed into Gaza mobile children’s clinic | National"},"content":{"rendered":"

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.<\/p>\n

The vehicle is still unmistakeable as a popemobile: pristine white inside and out, and with the familiar raised canopy.<\/p>\n

But instead of transporting the leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Roman Catholics, the re-branded “Vehicle of Hope” is now set to serve in the war-battered Gaza Strip, in accordance with the late pope’s wishes.<\/p>\n

It was unveiled in Bethlehem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, around the corner from the Church of the Nativity and Manger Square, where preparations are well underway for Christmas.<\/p>\n

“The Vehicle of Hope is ready for its new mission,” Cardinal Anders Arborelius, the Bishop of Stockholm, told a press conference, after blessing the vehicle.<\/p>\n

“We want every child we reach to feel seen, heard and protected. The rights and well-being of the child come first.<\/p>\n

“This vehicle stands as a testament: the world has not forgotten the children of Gaza.<\/p>\n

“This is not just a vehicle: it’s a message of compassion, dignity and hope.”<\/p>\n

Staffed by medics, the popemobile is intended for performing triage and is equipped for examination, diagnosis and treatment, including vaccines, stitches and tests for infections.<\/p>\n

The clinic should be able to perform up to 200 consultations a day. The children will sit in the pontiff’s chair while being attended to.<\/p>\n

– Pope’s ‘final wish’ –<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n


\n \"NGO
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In May 2014, Francis visited Amman, Bethlehem and Jerusalem, on his second international visit as pontiff. The popemobile was used as he toured Bethlehem, greeting the crowds gathered in Manger Square.<\/p>\n

A gift from the Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, the converted Mitsubishi was later given to Franciscan friars.<\/p>\n

Pope Francis died on April 21 aged 88, and his final wish for Gaza’s children was that the popemobile should become a mobile health unit, the official Vatican News portal said in May.<\/p>\n

The vehicle was transformed by Caritas, the Catholic humanitarian aid organisation. Costing $15,000, it has been repurposed and spruced up by Palestinian mechanics. The open sides have been screened off.<\/p>\n

“The children of Gaza were very close to the heart of pope Francis,” said Peter Brune, secretary general of the Caritas Sweden branch.<\/p>\n

“They will sit on the seat of the pope, and be treated like the most valuable person on Earth.”<\/p>\n

However, there is no date yet as to when it might receive Israeli authorisation to enter Gaza, where a fragile truce between Israel and Hamas came into effect on October 10 after two years of war that devastated healthcare in the Palestinian territory.<\/p>\n

“As with all humanitarian assistance, we urgently need access to Gaza,” Caritas secretary general Alistair Dutton told AFP.<\/p>\n

“We’re working through the official channels to get this in as quickly as possible.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The popemobile used by the late pope Francis on his 2014 visit to Bethlehem re-emerged on Tuesday as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":45262,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[26750,153,155,154],"class_list":{"0":"post-45261","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bethlehem","8":"tag-afp","9":"tag-bethlehem","10":"tag-bethlehem-headlines","11":"tag-bethlehem-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45261","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45261"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45261\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}