He has never pretended to be. He will, in my opinion be as great or greater. He's a very great man and not to be belittled.
He comes to the position too late in life, he comes from an entirely different background and he does not have the drive or energy that Pope John Paul II brought to the position (and age has a great deal to do with that).
There is also a difference in style and approach, where Pope John Paul II immediately started reaching out to the world, in words and travel, this Pope will not; it isn't his style.
Through the efforts of John Paul II, again travel, words and deeds, the Catholic Church enjoyed major expansions in other parts of the world while it retreated in it's more traditional locations.
There is a world of difference between the two men.
He's belittled by insipid little maggots on here out of spite. In other words, belittled by people who amount to precisely nil. I'd love to know what the naysayers have done for Israel lately, you know, other than talking big on an internet messageboard.