Featured Image Credit: Vatican Pool / Contributor via Getty
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.
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.
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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.
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.
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.
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.
