Israel has blocked most humanitarian and medical aid from entering Gaza, leaving children to suffer from preventable and treatable illnesses. Caritas, an organisation that operates 10 healthcare clinics in Gaza, aimed to draw attention to the continued restriction of aid and deliver medical aid to children in Gaza. Differ had an idea for an initiative that was impossible to ignore. The agency turned Pope Francis’ popemobile into a mobile healthcare clinic for children in Gaza.
Transforming the Pope’s popemobile into a healthcare clinic carried strong symbolic power – if it received his blessing. In November 2024, a proposal was delivered to Pope Francis in Rome by Swedish cardinal, Anders Arborelius. A few weeks later, Pope Francis approved and blessed the initiative. In February 2025, Caritas located the popemobile used during Francis’s 2014 visit to the West Bank and began converting it in a garage in Bethlehem. Before the conversion was completed, Pope Francis became ill and died.
The conversion continued to completion. Named Vehicle of Hope, it became a symbol of children’s rights and the need for humanitarian aid in Gaza. The initiative was planned to generate earned media at key moments – the announcement, the unveiling of the converted popemobile, and either its entry into Gaza or its denial by Israeli authorities. The message focused solely on children’s right to humanitarian aid.
With uncertainty around who the next pope would be, the initiative needed to be launched publicly before the conclave. Differ pitched it to The New York Times. On May 4, 2025, a week after Pope Francis’s funeral, The NY Times published the story. It triggered massive global coverage – with a potential earned reach of 14 billion in the first 7 days.
The converted vehicle was unveiled to international press in Bethlehem on November 25. The unit is equipped with diagnostic instruments, oxygen supply, vaccines, and antibiotics and can provide primary care to 200 children per day.
Results:
- Earned reach: 18.5 billion (May-Dec 2025)
- Articles: 5.200+
- TV & radio: 2.800+
- Social echo: 61k
- Mentions: 103k
- Engagement: 1.67M
- Published in 187 countries
- Earned media value: $187 million
(Source: Meltwater)
The initiative also inspired other NGOs to build seven mobile clinics for Gaza and has increased pressure to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza. The Vehicle of Hope is awaiting permission to enter Gaza.
