• News
    • Tech News
    • AI
  • Gadgets
    • Apple
    • iPhone
  • Gaming
    • Playstation
    • Xbox
  • Science
    • News
    • Space
  • Streaming
    • Netflix
  • Vehicles
    • Car News
  • Social Media
    • WhatsApp
    • YouTube
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
TikTok
Snapchat
WhatsApp
Submit Your Content
What will happen to Pope Francis' $500,000 Popemobile as part of his heartwarming final wish

Home> News> Tech News

Published 14:15 6 May 2025 GMT+1

What will happen to Pope Francis' $500,000 Popemobile as part of his heartwarming final wish

It's an unsual second life for the iconic vehicle

Tom Chapman

Tom Chapman

Featured Image Credit: Vatican Pool / Contributor via Getty
World News
Vehicles

Advert

Advert

Advert

The death of Pope Francis at the age of 88 has left a big hole in the Catholic church, and as we look for his successor, the world is still obsessed with getting this rare glimpse into the secretive life of the Vatican.

Pope Francis proved to be more tech-savvy than his predecessors, warning about the potential dangers of artificial intelligence and speaking out about climate change. With this, he was known for pootling around in his all-electric Popemobile.

Although the Pope was once gifted a one-off Lamborghini Huracán, it didn't become his regular car of choice. Instead, he was often spotted in the likes of a more economical Fiat 500 or the aforementioned Popemobile.

Advert

The Popemobile was remodelled following the attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II in 1981, giving us the one you've likely all seen that looks like an enclosed throne…or a perspex portaloo.

There's still plenty of life in the old Popemobile (Caritas Jerusalem)
There's still plenty of life in the old Popemobile (Caritas Jerusalem)

Mercedes-Benz has been providing numerous papal vehicles since the first Popemobile was designed in 1930, with things coming full circle via the first electric Popemobile in December 2024. The Vatican has vowed to make all Popemobiles electric by 2030, but as we prepare to usher in a new Pope, there are questions about what will happen to Pope Francis' previous whip.

Ahead of his death, Pope Francis deemed that the all-electric Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen should be turned into a clinic on wheels to help sick and malnourished children in Gaza.

Advert

Vatican News refers to it as Pope Francis' “final gift to Gaza," explaining how the $500,000 vehicle will be modified by Jerusalem nonprofit Caritas Jerusalem to become a form of field ambulance

Pope Francis reportedly said: "Children are not numbers. They are faces. Names. Stories. And each one is sacred."

The new and improved Popemobile will include "equipment for diagnosis, examination, and treatment – including rapid tests for infections, diagnostic instruments, vaccines, suture kits, and other life-saving supplies." Doctors and medics will staff it, hoping to reach children in the 'most isolated' corners of Gaza.

The Popemobile is said to be Pope Francis' last gift (Caritas Jerusalem)
The Popemobile is said to be Pope Francis' last gift (Caritas Jerusalem)

Advert

Peter Brune, Secretary General of Caritas Sweden, said: "With the vehicle, we will be able to reach children who today have no access to health care – children who are injured and malnourished.

"This is a concrete, life-saving intervention at a time when the health system in Gaza has almost completely collapsed."

Brune concluded: "It’s not just a vehicle. It’s a message that the world has not forgotten about the children in Gaza." His words were echoed by Anton Asfar, Secretary General of Caritas Jerusalem, who added: "This vehicle represents the love, care and closeness shown by His Holiness for the most vulnerable, which he expressed throughout the crisis."

Pope Francis was no stranger to the area, having previously ridden in a different Popemobile to the Holy Land in 2014. Despite vehicle moderation being underway, a blockade has largely prevented aid from being allowed into the Gaza Strip.

Advert

The good news is that the battery life of an electric G 580 being up to 20 years and 150,000 miles means there should still be plenty of life in the Popemobile.

  • What Pope Francis did after he received $810,000 Lamborghini supercar
  • Man puts his car in 'park' while driving at 65mph to find out what would actually happen
  • Trump sparks outrage as he announces plans to rename another part of the world
  • Man puts car in reverse while driving 50mph to see what would really happen

Choose your content:

6 hours ago
8 hours ago
9 hours ago
  • 6 hours ago

    Diver made eerie discovery as he ascended 1100 metres into the ocean to 'deepest part of the planet'

    He spent four hours searching the deepest part of the ocean

    Science
  • 6 hours ago

    Engineers discover China has secret 'kill switch' which could wreak havoc on Western power grids

    Experts have discovered communication devices in China-supplied electrical inverts

    News
  • 8 hours ago

    People in shock after realizing unlikely degree newly elected Pope Leo holds

    The head of the Catholic Church has been known to crunch the numbers

    News
  • 9 hours ago

    Insane discovery of 'earliest footprints ever' dating back 350,000,000 years 'completely rewrites' theory of evolution

    The fossilized footprints are now thought to be the oldest evidence of land animals on Earth

    Science