I would argue, to the contrary, to the sede, that JP II may simply be the worst Pope in the Church's history. They say he stepped over the line. They say he is a FORMAL HERETIC, or essentially is. I say he's stepped awfully close in his ecumenism and in his recent attack on the Holy Rosary with his self-contradictory and awful RVM document. And if HE understands that the Jews need not convert, if HE understands that the Greek are not in schism but that traditionalist Catholics somehow are, if HE understands that there are no longer any Eastern Catholic, if HE does not really even confess transubstantiation, in fact, in reality, at this point - if all that and more, then the sedes are right, and I give JP II WAAAY too much credit.
I'm not convinced he's doctrinally so completely unsound. I think he is a rebel, yes. I think he believes he has a better way than the Saints and Doctors of the past. I think that's clear. And I also suspect that all of this predates the present. Because I think he's mentally incapacitated at this point. Whatever he wrought, he did so in years past. I think he should have resigned the papacy years ago. I think he's too far gone, now, to know his own mind, and to independently come to that decision. When he could have made this decision to step down, he clearly was not putting the best interest of the institutional church before his own. There's NO QUESTION there. The institution needs a vital Pope, one to either formally cross that ecumenical line and clearly prove the sedes right, or step back a bit into Catholicism. But I doubt the next would attempt to crawl the razor's edge in hopes of keeping people guessing - is the Pope Catholic?
I agree with everything you said in #187. The Pope is a liberal. We know that from his pre-papal writings. He may be well-intentioned but naive, too trusting and philosophically out there. However, the last few years have exhibited a rapid descent into novelty and borderline heresy at a speed which we didn't see in the early years of his papacy. The Pope may be mentally incapacitated and/or no longer in charge. None of us can know what is happening behind Vatican doors.