Pope Francis left funds in his will to buy ambulances for Ukraine, nun says

[littlemissmartypants]

December 4, 2025 7:11 am
• 2 min read
By Olena Goncharova

Dominican nun Lucia Caram says Pope Francis, who died in April 2025, left her money in his will specifically to purchase ambulances for her humanitarian missions in Ukraine. Caram talked about the donation during an interview on the Barcelona TV program Órbita B (Betevé).

Caram, who has traveled to Ukraine more than 20 times since Russia launched its full-scale invasion, said the gesture deeply moved her. "He did tell me, in our meetings, that he would help me in some way, but I didn't imagine he would do it like this," she said, according to a news report published on Dec. 2.

The nun heads the Santa Clara Convent Foundation in the Spanish town of Manresa and has been involved in delivering medical assistance and evacuation support in front-line regions.

Although Pope Francis consistently condemned the violence of Russia’s invasion, his legacy in Ukraine was strained by several controversial remarks about the war. In 2024, he urged Ukraine to show "courage" and "raise the white flag" to negotiate with Moscow — a comment widely criticized in Kyiv.
Snip...
https://kyivindependent.com/pope-francis-left-funds-in-his-will-to-buy-ambulances-for-ukraine-nun-says/

🌻🇺🇦❤️🇺🇦🌻 Slava Ukraini! 🌻🇺🇦❤️🇺🇦🌻

[Raine]

1. That's a very nice thing to do. ✝️ nt

[jaymac]

2. Wait

Don't priests take a vow of poverty? Seems like free room and board aren't enough? So how much did the pontiff have to leave anyway? Where did he make his $$$$? Investments in Apple?

[littlemissmartypants]

3. I remember reading that he had placed his savings in various trusts for designated uses. ...

This was apparently one of them. Money works in mysterious ways sometimes, doesn't it?.

[harumph]

4. With all due respect, that's your takeaway?

Popes are given stipends and allowances that they may invest as they see fit. Sometimes they inherit money from family - just like normal folk. In other news CEOs now earn nearly 300 times as much as workers.

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/10/03/epi-report-ceos-earn-nearly-300-times-as-much-as-workers.html