Practical Support, part of Pope Francis’ Legacy
One of Pope Francis’s popemobiles is being transformed into a mobile health clinic for children in the Gaza Strip, fulfilling one of his final wishes, the Vatican’s official media outlet said on Sunday.
The vehicle, used by the late pontiff during his 2014 visit to the Holy Land, is being outfitted with diagnostic and emergency medical equipment to help young patients in the Palestinian enclave, where health services have been devastated by the Israeli invasion.
Pope Francis, who died last month, entrusted the initiative to the Catholic aid organisation Caritas Jerusalem in the months before his death, Vatican News said. Peter Brune, Secretary General of Caritas Sweden, which is supporting the project, told Vatican News
“This is a concrete, life-saving intervention at a time when the health system in Gaza has almost completely collapsed. It’s not just a vehicle. It’s a message that the world has not forgotten about the children in Gaza.”
The mobile unit will be equipped with rapid infection tests, vaccines, diagnostic tools, and suture kits, and staffed by medical personnel. Caritas plans to deploy the clinic to communities without access to functioning healthcare facilities once humanitarian access to Gaza is feasible.
Gaza has a tiny Christian community and Pope Francis phoned that little bombarded Catholic church almost every day, even during his illness. How very sad that this much needed lifesaving gesture will have to wait until humanitarian and medical supplies can get to where it is needed most.
Join a conversation on the issue of non-violence with Palestinian activist and academic Mahmoud Zwahre and Andrew Rigby, Emeritus Professor of Peace Studies
Wheeler Hall, Leeds LS2 8BE
We Choose Non-violence – conversations with Palestinian activists
Host a Supper Club for Palestine this Summer
The Amos Trust are running a promotion for people to hold ‘Summer Palestine Supper Club’ event.
Join them to honour Palestinian culture by bringing friends, family, or your local community together for a meal as an act of cultural resistance that supports the Gaza and West Bank appeal. Whether it’s a cosy dinner at home or a bigger gathering at a venue, it’s a simple but powerful way to stand in solidarity with Palestinians.
How it works:
- Invite friends, family or colleagues for a meal
- Cook a few simple Palestinian dishes (easy recipes on their website)
- Ask guests to donate what they would spend on a meal out
- Enjoy great food, conversation and solidarity
“Where politics has been the tool for Israel to divide us, culture has been our tool of uniting ourselves… and that’s why it’s really important for the solidarity of our friends to understand that, we are not that self-centric that we want to eat hummus all the time, but it has become a way of resilience and looking inward to ourselves, putting a nice warm jacket on ourselves by keeping participating and celebrating the cultural element of the Palestinians.”
Mahmoud Muna — The Bookseller of Jerusalem
Follow Amos Trust on Instagram for more recipe ideas
