While the Vatican has detailed laws and rituals to ensure the transfer of power when a pope dies or resigns, they do not apply if he is sick or even unconscious.

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.

What happens when a pope is incapacitated? Is he still pope? Pope Francis' age and prolonged illness have raised questions about whether he might resign, and revived interest about how papal power is exercised.

His age and prolonged illness have raised questions about whether he might resign, and revived interest about how papal power is exercised in the Holy See.

Pope Francis' age and prolonged illness have revived interest in how papal power is exercised in the Holy See, how it is transferred and under what circumstances.

Francis' age and prolonged illness has revived interest about how papal power is exercised in the Holy See, how it is transferred and under what circumstances.

Following the death or resignation of a pope, 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 Hospital with a respiratory infection.

People of the Catholic faith around the world are lighting candles and praying for the health of Pope Francis while he recovers from pneumonia.

Pope Francis’ hospital stay is raising obvious questions about what happens if he loses consciousness for a prolonged period, or whether he might follow in Pope Benedict XVI’s footsteps and resign if he becomes unable to lead.

While the Vatican has detailed laws and rituals to ensure the transfer of power when a pope dies or resigns, they do not apply if he is sick or even unconscious. And there are no specific norms outlining what happens to the leadership of the Catholic Church if a pope becomes totally incapacitated.