Pope donates third ambulance to Ukrainian hospital

Pope Francis’ closeness to suffering Ukraine is again manifesting itself, concretely, with his latest donation of an ambulance to a Ukrainian hospital.

Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, the Papal Almoner and the Prefect of the Dicastery for Charity, was again the individual to deliver the rescue vehicle, which is the third ambulance the Holy Father has sent to Ukraine.

For the eighth time, Cardinal Krajewski travelled 2,000 kilometres to the Zboriv district of the Ukrainian region of Ternopil, to deliver the ambulance equipped as a mobile resuscitation centre to the Central Hospital.

Moreover, the Pope sent Cardinal Krajewski with a large quantity of essential and life-saving medicine from the Vatican pharmacy and that of Rome’s Gemelli Hospital.

In the region of Ternopil, due to the continuing war, numerous convoys arrive daily carrying wounded soldiers and civilians.

Thus, the ambulance will also be a valuable tool to support the rescuers of the wounded.

On 26 June, the Papal Almoner also inaugurated, on the Pope’s behalf, the “St John Paul ii ” Rehabilitation Centre, built in Vinnytsia in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kamyanets-Podilskyy, to assist in the physical and psychological rehabilitation of those who have suffered war trauma.

The centre, like others like it, was built with the contribution of several Pontifical Foundations such as Aid to the Church in Need and The Papal Foundation, and will be open to “everyone”, without any distinction of faith, nationality or exclusion.

By Deborah Castellano Lubov