The vehicle, transformed with medical equipment and child-friendly interiors, was a final gesture of solidarity from the late Pope Francis before his death in April 2025. He entrusted it to Caritas Jerusalem with a simple but powerful mission: to reach Gaza’s youngest and most vulnerable–those wounded not only in body, but in spirit. It was once a symbol of joyful encounter. In May 2014, Pope Francis rode through the streets of Bethlehem in a white open-roofed vehicle, waving to crowds in the birthplace of Christ. That very papal car, now retrofitted into a mobile medical unit, was meant to become a lifeline for the children of Gaza. Today, it sits idle outside the border, blocked by war, diplomacy, and despair. The vehicle, transformed with medical equipment and child-friendly interiors, was a final gesture of solidarity from the late Pope Francis before his death in April 2025. He entrusted it to Caritas Jerusalem with a simple but powerful mission: to reach Gaza’s youngest and most vulnerable–those wounded not only in body, but in spirit. But the borders remain sealed. The Rafah crossing from Egypt is shut tight. Israel’s permissions are scarce and slow. The roads into Gaza are bottle-necks of desperation. For now, the papal ambulance has become a ghost of mercy that cannot yet cross into the inferno. “We are still trying to coordinate with au-thorities,” says Harout Bedrossian of Caritas Jerusalem. “But nothing moves. The frontiers are closed, and hope–however persistent–is thinning.”
Spanish bishops speak out after leaks of their meeting with Leo XIV
The executive committee of the Spanish Bishops’ Conference, (CEE, by its Spanish acronym) meeting in Madrid this week, issued an official statement regarding the leaks
