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.
Well said. I think though the next Pontiff will be successful if he understands the worldwide sentiment that this Pope is to be reckoned as Pope John Paul the Great and does not strive against his legacy but rather celebrates it and articulates it within his new apostolic work.