Who can fill the big shoes Pope John Paul II left behind?

KAROL Josef Wojtyla had been many things before he became Pope. Among these many things, he had been a theatre actor and nothing had been more dramatic than the events that led to the day he was presented to the world's stage as the newly elected Pope on October 27, 1978. In 1968, Morris West's bestselling novel, "Shoes of the Fisherman" became a movie blockbuster. Released at the height of the Cold War, the film captured the imagination …

…In human terms, it would appear next to impossible to fill the shoes that Pope John Paul II left behind. But considering that there is an almighty hand that steers the process of selecting the successor to the throne of St. Peter, the first fisherman, and guides whoever is the successor - it could well be that Pope John Paul II was only the precursor to even greater things to come. Humanity certainly hopes so.