When Benedict XVI became the first pope to resign in 600 years it sent shockwaves through the Catholic Church. Now, after spending two weeks in hospital battling pneumonia, the speculation in the Vatican is whether his successor Pope Francis might do the same.

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 future of his papacy.

Pope Francis has marked out a legacy that stands apart the ones of his two predecessors, John Paul II, and Benedict XVI.

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

Pope Emeritus Benedict stepped down from the papacy, making him the first one to take such a step in six centuries. This became one of the biggest events of the century. In 1953, the chemical structur

Over the weekend, the Vatican announced serious complications in the recovery of Pope Francis. The 88-year-old pontiff, who has been hospitalized for 10 days, is battling pneumonia and on Sunday also appeared to be in the early stages of kidney failure, the Vatican said.

Pope Benedict XVI waves to well-wishers in the penultimate day of his ... which indeed may be nothing more than a meeting to discuss future canonizations, as the Vatican said. But speaking with the Associated Press, Austen Ivereigh, an English biographer ...

The Vatican has detailed laws and rituals to ... or whether he might follow in Pope Benedict XVI's footsteps and resign if he becomes unable to lead. On Monday, Francis' hospital stay will hit ...

Gandhi’s Scant Garb Bars Audience with Pope.” So read the headline of a New York Times report, from December 13, 1931, that the Vatican had cancelled a meeting between Pius XI and “the Indian nationalist leader” because the Pope thought he might be criticized “if he received the visitor in his usual scanty clothing.

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