With Pope Francis in declining health and reportedly nearing death, the Roman Catholic Church has begun to cast its gaze to his replacement and what it might want in a new Holy See, which Father Gerald Murray told Newsmax is a "big question."

Murray, a priest in the Archdiocese of New York, joined "National Report" speaking about the Pope's condition but also looking ahead to the characteristics of a new Pope given that Francis "forged his own path."

Pope Francis remains hospitalized in critical condition with double pneumonia.

"This is a big question right now because, of course, Pope Francis forged his own path, and it was a liberalizing direction in the church," Murray said. "He authorized that divorced and remarried people could receive Communion. He authorized the blessings to be given to same-sex couples. These are things that his predecessors had never done and, in fact, had rejected those ideas."

"So when the conclave does convene to elect a new Pope, the cardinals are going to be considering, What direction do we want the next Pope to take? A continuation of a more liberalizing path, which is, in fact, very fraught with danger for the Catholic faith because, you know, we believe that what is handed on must be defended," Murray added, "or will we return to … what Pope John Paul II and Benedict gave to the church, which was a vigorous defense of the traditional faith, answering modern concerns but not casting aside the hard teachings of Christianity but rather defending them?"

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