The "Pope Mobile" is now being rebuilt at a workshop in Bethlehem on the West Bank. It is being equipped with rapid tests, syringes, oxygen, vaccine, refrigerators, and equipment to sew up wounds and injuries. Since it is going into a war zone, it is also being fitted with a kind of casing that protects against shrapnel.
Locally Employed On Board
"With the vehicle, we can reach children who currently lack access to healthcare – children who are injured and malnourished," says Peter Brune, the initiator of the project and Secretary General of Caritas Sweden, in a press release.
"This is a concrete and life-saving effort at a time when the healthcare system in Gaza has almost collapsed."
It was Brune who came up with the idea of rebuilding the "Pope Mobile", an initiative that was taken further to the Vatican by the Swedish Cardinal Anders Arborelius. Before the Pope passed away, he blessed the effort and made a Pope Mobile available.
The small clinic, referred to as the "vehicle of hope" within the aid organization, will have doctors on board – personnel who are locally employed by Caritas clinics in Gaza.
Ready to Roll In
Caritas wants the mobile clinic to roll into the war-torn area as soon as possible. Israel has, however, blocked humanitarian aid shipments to Gaza entirely since March 2, which has been condemned by, among others, WHO and the UN's aid organizations.
A "Pope Mobile" is an informal name for a specially built, often open car that is usually used by the Pope during official visits and in other contexts. Pope Francis took a final ride in one through the crowd on St. Peter's Square on Easter Day, the day before he passed away.
