Pope Francis hints he may step down as the head of the Roman Catholic church one day

Francis, 78, has said before that he would be ready to resign instead of ruling for life if he felt he could not continue running the 1.2billion-member Church for health or other reasons.

'Let's be clear. The only one who cannot be substituted in the Church is the Holy Spirit,' the Argentinian-born pontiff told 30,000 people at a rally of Christians at the Vatican today.

He added: 'There should be a time limit to positions [in the Church], which in reality are positions of service.'

Making clear his comments were not confined to the clergy, Francis added: 'It is convenient that all [positions] in the Church should have a time limit. 

'There are no leaders for life in the Church. This occurs in some countries where a dictatorship exists.'

In February 2013, Francis's predecessor Pope Benedict XVI became the first pontiff to resign in 600 years.

In an interview with Mexican television last March, Francis said what Benedict did 'should not be considered an exception, but an institution'.

But in the same interview he said he did not like the idea of an automatic retirement age for popes, for example at 80.