Jesuit priest gifts Pope Francis a special wheelchair from Cambodia

Vatican City, Oct 25, 2024 / 06:00 am

Jesuit priest and apostolic prefect of Battambang in Cambodia Father Enrique “Kike” Figaredo this week presented Pope Francis with a wheelchair made by land mine survivors in Cambodia.

The Spanish missionary traveled to Rome from the Southeast Asian country with a special gift for the Holy Father: a Mekong wheelchair, characterized by having three wheels and made of wood.

Figaredo, who is in the Eternal City to participate in the Synod on Synodality, had the opportunity to meet with the pontiff early in the morning of Oct. 23.

“It was a wonderful encounter; Pope Francis amazes me. When he saw me, he asked me: ‘Kike, what did you bring me?’” the priest shared with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner.

According to the missionary, the Holy Father “was surprised to see the wheelchair and said it looked great.” Later, Figaredo showed the pope some of its features “and he listened very attentively.” The priest made the point that the craftsmen are not “disabled” but rather have “special abilities.”

“I invited him to sit down in it, he got up from his chair and sat on the Cambodian chair and said: ‘how beautiful.’” He also expressed his desire to use it, which for Figaredo would be “a symbol for the people injured by war.”

The apostolic prefect also stressed that this gesture holds great meaning: “That Pope Francis has a wheelchair made by the people for whom he prays and advocates, so that they might have peace.”

“The people who are victims of war are the ones who are giving [the wheelchair] to him through me. They give the pope a wheelchair, who is now disabled, so that he can continue to be the leader of the Church and the world for peace,” he added.

Figaredo has spent more than 40 years giving his life to the service of those most in need in Cambodia, especially to people maimed by anti-personnel mine explosions.

Over the years, Figaredo has promoted various action projects for the disabled. In 1991, he founded a school for disabled children in Phnom Penh, where they also build wooden wheelchairs known as the Mekong, in reference to the river that crosses Cambodia and five other Asian countries.

There they take in vulnerable street children, orphans, and disabled people. In Battambang there is also the Arrupe Center, where different projects for children’s education and adult training are carried out.

They also have an agricultural and livestock area, a restaurant called the Lonely Tree Café, a cafeteria, a hotel, a textile center where they make Kromas — the traditional Cambodian scarf — and the Mutitaa clothing brand, where they sell garments that can be purchased online from Spain. All of these, according to the Spanish priest, are “small models of social integration.”

Volunteers from different countries come to the mission every year. Many come to help during the summer and the adults usually stay longer, around a year. There are others who initially plan to come for only a few months but end up staying, because these people have something that “captivates you.”

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.