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

The pope looms so large in everyday Italian life that there are lots of expressions that make light of even a dark event like ...

Cardinals, according to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), are bishops and Vatican officials from all ...

VATICAN CITY -- While the Vatican has detailed laws and rituals to ensure the transfer of power when a pope dies or resigns, ...

As Pope Francis undergoes treatment for double pneumonia, many are looking ahead to the process of selecting his successor ...

The system is known as the ‘Papal Conclave,’ and will be used once again to select the next Pope when the time comes. The system is democratic with a strong emphasis on working through multiple rounds ...

the Catholic Church elects a new pope through an election by cardinals who meet in a conclave Pope Francis remained hospitalized Wednesday, five days after he was admitted to Rome's Gemelli ...

His condition has sparked interest in how a new pope is elected, something heightened by the success of the Oscar-nominated film Conclave, which starred British actor Ralph Fiennes as a cardinal ...

The papal "conclave" is intentionally shrouded in mystery — the term itself is Latin for "locked room" — but here are some of its rules and wrinkles: Candidates must be male and a baptized ...

With the need to elect a new one, Lawrence is assigned as the leader of the papal Conclave to do so. Four candidates lead the race, but each of them is not without their own sort of sin.

It doesn’t help that the Oscar-nominated movie “Conclave” is in theaters and has made everyone an expert in the arcane rules and spectacular drama involved in a papal election. Or that ...