“I saw someone who was caring for someone, not worrying about if we are gay, straight, brown, white.”

Pope Francis is trying to ensure that those who elect his successor are humble men committed to “a church of the poor and for the poor.”

The Vatican declined to confirm or deny the remarks in keeping with its policy not to comment on the pope's private conversations.

Eleven of the new cardinals are under the age of 80 and so have the right to vote in the next conclave.

Both men were close to each other in life, and both are much revered by Pope Francis.

In the 10-page text, Francis presented a searing diagnosis of what had transformed this once prophetic and esteemed church in Latin America to one of the least respected.