[Siobhan]

Curial cardinals may stand a better chance this time around, some theorize. But I wonder if they will look at a Claretian whose pontificate would be much shorter than Pope John Paul II....

[Non-Sequitur]

Curial cardinals may stand a better chance this time around, some theorize.

Who ever it is I don't envy the burden that he will have to carry as the successor to John Paul II. Paul VI learned how hard it was to follow a charismatic leader and labored his entire pontificate being compared to John XXIII. The next pope will find his predecessor's shadow hard to escape from.