Pietro Parolin, a 70-year-old Italian polyglot who entered the seminary at just 14, is currently pitted as favourite to replace Francis as the pope is still in hospital.

THE Pope wrote his resignation letter 12 years ago in case he became too ill to fulfil the holy role as he remains in a ‘critical’ state in hospital. The Pontiff has spent 10 nights in

The Vatican has detailed laws and rituals to ensure the transfer of power when a pope dies or resigns, but not when he is sick

The Vatican reported a “slight improvement” in the Pope’s condition on Monday evening, though it continued to describe his situation as “critical”.

Following the death of a pope, or in rare cases of resignation such as with Pope Benedict XVI, the Vatican convenes a papal conclave, in which the College of Cardinals come together to elect the Church’s next head.

ROME — Pope Francis woke up and was continuing his therapies Monday after a quiet night, on the 10th day of his hospitalization for a complex lung infection that has provoked the early stages of kidney insufficiency, the Vatican said.

The Vatican’s Secretary of State Pietro Cardinal Parolin emphasised that military action must respect human rights during a visit to Burkina Faso, where the