Who could be the next Pope?

The Vatican has raised concerns for the health of Pope Francis by saying he remains in critical condition, with blood tests showing early kidney failure. The 88-year-old head of the Catholic Church attended Mass on Sunday and remains “alert” but continues to battle pneumonia and a complex lung infection. He had part of his lung excised at the age of 21 after suffering pneumonia and cysts.

Doctors have said his condition is under control but Catholic insiders have been raising fears that the pontiff might not recover. In New York, Cardinal Timothy Dolan admitted what church leaders in Rome weren't saying publicly: that the Catholic faithful were united "at the bedside of a dying father”.

Choosing a new pope is a complex and historically entrenched process that can take several weeks. The full ins and outs are described here. Francis, who was born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, has been the Pope since 2013. Here are some of the rumoured figures who could succeed him in the Vatican’s top role.

After the death of a pope, cardinals discuss who they feel would be a good candidate and voting begins in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel. It is a very secret process and names are unlikely to fly around too freely, so anyone put forward at this point is purely speculative.

But, to narrow it down from the millions who would therefore be eligible, here are some of the names that are in the frame. The 70-year-old has been the Vatican's secretary of state since 2013 and is the highest ranking cardinal in the conclave. “Everyone can contribute to peace, but solutions must never be pursued through unilateral impositions that risk trampling on the rights of entire peoples, otherwise, there will never be a just and lasting peace,” he has said.

The Hungarian is known, according to the Independent, for being a more conservative voice and a devout Marian – meaning he devotes his practices to Mary, mother of Jesus. He has been a cardinal for more than 20 years but has stood out for opposing Catholics who have divorced or remarried from receiving Holy Communion.

Cardinal Turkson is a liberal by Catholic standards and has relatively progressive views on LGBT issues. The 80-year-old has been Archbishop of Quebec and Primate of Canada but his age might count against him as he would not be allowed to participate in the conclave.

A contender to be the first Asian pope, the Filipino is a relatively youthful 67 and could follow in Francis’s lead of being more accepting of the LGBT community. According to the Independent, he said in 2015: “The harsh words that were used in the past to refer to gays and divorced and separated people, the unwed mothers etc, in the past, they were quite severe. Many people who belonged to those groups were branded and that led to their isolation from the wider society.”.