The popemobile that the late Pope Francis used during his visit to Bethlehem in 2014, it arrived in said West Bank town this Tuesday converted into a traveling clinic destined for Gaza, but the Israeli authorities have not yet given approval for the vehicle to access the Strip. The conversion of the papal car into a clinic that serves Gaza, especially children, was “one of the last wishes” of the Pope, the Vatican reported after the death of Jorge Mario Bergoglio on April 21. “I’m sure he would receive this news with a big smile, for him it was very important that the children of the world have a better life,” said Cardinal Anders Arborelius, also bishop of the diocese of Stockholm (Sweden), who blessed this reconditioned popemobile during the presentation ceremony in Bethlehem.
Francisco repeatedly spoke out about the suffering of Gazans in the face of the brutal Israeli offensive after the Hamas attacks of October 7, and called the parish priest Gabriel Romanelli, of the Holy Family Church in devastated Gaza City.
The transport presented today was baptized in May, when it was announced that it would be deployed at some point, as a “vehicle of hope”, and has been enabled to provide care on the front lines of a war zone. Its use will be purely pediatric, reported from Cáritas, the entity that has coordinated the initiative. The clinic in question will be equipped with rapid tests, suturing kits, syringes, oxygen supplies, vaccines and a small refrigerator to store medications.
It is a Mitsubishi brand vehicle in which up to four health workers would work at the same time and that has been stripped of any type of accessory on its dashboard – no navigation screen or radio -, without logos on the front or hubcaps, and with all finishes in the usual austere-looking white tone. In addition, it is screen-printed on its sides in English with its nickname – the “vehicle of hope” –, the words “mobile clinic” and the slogan “We put love into action”, associated with Cáritas; as well as the logos of this entity, of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem and of the Palestinian National Authority, which has allowed the arrival of the automobile to the West Bank.
“At the moment, its entry into Gaza is being negotiated (with Israel). The idea is that it joins the other ten mobile clinics that Caritas already has in the Strip, and that have been damaged during the two years of war. It would begin to coordinate with them to see where it would be most useful,” the secretary general of Caritas Internationalis, Alistair Dutton, told the media. During the presentation event, to which a Gazan girl came to make a small floral offering to the cardinal, the media and the dozen Catholic faithful attending were not allowed access to the interior of the vehicle, which was protected by a quadrangular glass structure at all times.
The event took place in the backyard, outdoors, of a cafeteria very close to the Basilica of the Nativity, declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Also attending was Dr. Ramzi Khoury, president of the Palestinian National Fund, who described the arrival of the former popemobile as a “path to peace” and “understanding between Christians and Muslims in Palestine.”
According to the Government of Gaza, Israel has killed 69,756 Gazans – including more than 20,000 children – and 170,946 have been injured since it began its military offensive more than two years ago, now with a ceasefire in which deaths continue to occur daily.
