The increasingly fragile state of Francis’s health has spurred speculation as to whether he could opt to step down and make way for a successor, as his predecessor Benedict XVI had done.

Pope Francis has entered his fourth week in the hospital with double pneumonia. Francis has increasingly handed off his day-to-day duties to cardinals as questions swirl about the near- and long-term ...

(AP Photo/Andrew Medichini ... Thursday will mark the 12th anniversary of when Pope Francis was voted to succeed Pope Benedict XVI, who previously resigned. ABC News' Megan Forrester contributed ...

especially after the death of Pope Benedict XVI. In his 2024 memoir, “Life,” Francis recounted how he first learned about Benedict’s resignation, the first in 600 years. He said a Vatican ...