Three Cardinals Favored to Succeed Pope Francis

Reports are surfacing that Pope Francis' predecessor Pope Benedict, the 95-year-old former pontiff who resigned from the post nine years ago, is “very sick” and in declining health.

“I want to ask you all for a special prayer for Pope Emeritus Benedict who sustains the Church in his silence. He is very sick,” Francis said during his general audience at the Vatican on Wednesday.

“We ask the Lord to console and sustain him in this witness of love for the Church to the very end.”

Pope Francis is also up there in age and that prompted BetOnline to begin taking bets on who might ultimately succeed him.

Odds for Next Pope to Succeed Pope Francis

Cardinal Luis Tagle                    6-1

Cardinal Peter Turkson              6-1

Cardinal Pietro Parolin              6-1

Cardinal Marc Ouellet               7-1

Cardinal Robert Sarah               10-1

Cardinal Angelo de Donatis        12-1

Cardinal Konrad Krajewski         12-1

Cardinal Raymond Burke           12-1

Cardinal Cristoph Schonborn     14-1

Cardinal Matteo Zuppi               14-1

Cardinal Odilo Pedro Scherer     14-1

Cardinal O. Rodriguez Maradiaga16-1

Cardinal Peter Erdo                   16-1

Archbishop Lauro Tisi                25-1

Archbishop Sean O'Malley         25-1

Cardinal Angelo Scola                25-1

Cardinal Blase J. Cupich             25-1

Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi        25-1

Bishop Guido Marini                 33-1

Bishop Robert McElroy              33-1

Cardinal Albert Malcolm Ranjith 33-1

Cardinal Timothy Dolan             33-1

Archbishop Giorgio Marengo     50-1

Archbishop Leonardo Steiner     100-1

Cardinal Vincent Nichols            100-1

Archbishop Sergio da Rocha      125-1

Bishop Athanasius Schneider     125-1

Cardinal Vinko Puljic                  125-1

Father William Joensen             125-1

Cardinal Thomas Collins            150-1

Reverend James Martin             150-1

Bishop Paulo Rudelli                  200-1

Cardinal A. Yeom Soo-jung         200-1

Cardinal Willem Eljk                  200-1

Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard        1000-1

- Gilbert Horowitz, Gambling911.com