(AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia) FILE-- A mosaic icon of Pope Francis is lifted to be placed next to the icon of Benedict XVI inside St. Peter and Paul’s Basilica in Rome, Monday, Dec. 9, 2013. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino) FILE-- The tapestries showing late ...

A secret meeting, and echoes of Benedict’s exit, have heightened talk that Francis could resign, too. But the possibility is anyone’s guess.

Concerns over Pope Francis' health have mounted in recent years as have questions about his succession. Here's what we know.

Concerns over Pope Francis' health have mounted in recent years as have questions about his succession. Here's what we know.

Cardinals, according to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), are bishops and Vatican officials from all over the world who are personally chosen by the pope. They are recognizable by their red vestments and they elect a new pope when the time comes.

Pope Benedict XVI waves to well-wishers in the penultimate day of his papacy ... and church officials tasked with selecting the next pope — had already arrived in Rome. March 1, 2013, marked the beginning of a short “interregnum” period before ...

Pope Francis marked the one-week point Friday in his hospital stay, getting up to eat breakfast as the 88-year-old pontiff continued fighting pneumonia and a complex respiratory infection, the Vatican said.

As the pope enters his second week in a Rome hospital with a lung infection, his physicians said his condition was critical but not immediately life-threatening.

Francis was admitted to Rome's Gemelli hospital on Feb. 14 after ... Francis has said he would consider it, after Pope Benedict XVI “opened the door” to popes retiring.