Pope Francis is not planning any fundamental changes to the current norms for the election of his successor.
In the Spanish interview book "El sucesor", which will be published on Wednesday, the Pope said: "There is nothing to it." Some media had speculated about changes.
Francis continued: "I have not changed anything because the matter seems secondary to me. The mechanism worked very well in the two conclaves I attended. (...) Perhaps it would make sense to change a few things. But they don't seem urgent to me, and I don't need to devote myself to this for the time being."
In recent months, conservative internet portals had surmised that Francis was working on a reform of the conclave rules together with the canon lawyer Cardinal Gianfranco Ghirlanda.
Most recently, an unidentified cardinal wrote a text under the pseudonym"Demos II" in which he demanded that a future pope should not be an autocrat but should be advised by his college of cardinals.
In February, church historian Alberto Melloni called for a change to the electoral rules for popes.
In view of fake news offensives, precautions must be taken so that cardinals are not tempted to elect a worse candidate as pope due to possible accusations against a candidate.