Bittermann: John Paul II a hard act to follow
 |  CNN's Jim Bittermann |
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VATICAN CITY (CNN) -- Tens of thousands of people packed St. Peter's Square on Friday for Pope John Paul II's funeral, while millions of others worldwide watched on television, a testament to his immense popularity.
CNN correspondent Jim Bittermann -- who covered the funeral and John Paul's first day as pope more than 26 years ago -- told CNN's Anderson Cooper that the next pontiff will have big shoes to fill.
COOPER: Jim, as the crowds are still hanging out in St. Peter's Square, what is it like where you are?
BITTERMANN: Well, it's amazing. They've already started the transition here, I've got to tell you, Anderson. They've taken down the chairs from the requiem Mass, and they're going to be preparing the cathedral, [St Peter's] Basilica, for what's going to follow, which are going to be the masses tomorrow and throughout the week, to sort of set the stage for the conclave [of cardinals who will choose the next pope].
Now, one of the things that I've been asked a couple of times this morning is about comparisons with previous popes. Really, it's unfair to make any kind of comparison, because Paul VI -- I was here when Paul VI died [in 1978], and frankly he just wasn't that popular of a guy.
He didn't have any kind of a media figure. The media was much less developed than it is today. And John Paul I was only in office for 34 days [before he died suddenly.] So he didn't really have a chance to build any kind of constituency the way John Paul II has.
When you think about watching all those leaders up there today, most of them had personal contacts somewhere along the line, or at least probably 80 percent of them did. At some point along the line they had had personal contact with John Paul II. He'd been everywhere.
And it's banal to say it, but I'm going to say it anyway. It's the end of an era.
The church is now faced with what I think is a real problem. They have got to figure out how to replace this pope.
And there is, of course, some other problems that he's left behind. For instance, a shortage of priests and a lack of parishioners.
But it's also the choice of how they're going to live up to the bar that has been raised by this pope, the idea that a pope flies all over the world. That didn't happen before. I mean, air transport wasn't that good, but also because of the fact that popes just didn't leave the Vatican, that popes go on television, go on the Internet. This next pope is going to have to be ready and willing and able -- and that's the key thing -- able to do all of those things.
So it's going to be very interesting in the coming weeks how the cardinals decide. ... We're going to be making the comparisons right away.
For the next year, whoever the next pope is, we're going to be talking about: "Is he doing the same things as John Paul II did? Is he able to do the same things? Is he traveling as much? Is he able to command television in the same way?"
So it's going to be a tough ride for whoever has to follow.
COOPER: Well, Jim, as you know, there has been some criticism at times of Pope John Paul II for not being an administrator, for allowing others to take care of a lot of the details and sort of just signing documents, sometimes perhaps even without fully reading them. If there is -- if the next pope is more of an administrator, still that pope will be expected, as you said -- because the bar has been raised -- he will be expected to be an ambassador and to go out and to constantly be going out and traveling.
It's a very difficult thing to try to have it -- you know, have your cake and eat it, too, to be traveling all the time and to be hands-on as an administrator.
BITTERMANN: Exactly. There are a lot of people in the Vatican who can tell you exactly the percentage -- and I think it's around 10 percent -- of the time that the pope was gone, that he was out of the Vatican on trips. And because of that, they are a little bit unhappy.
I mean, they won't say -- it's not expressed as sort of unhappiness, but it's always said that there are things that could have been done better. You know, the organization could have been done better. You could have addressed the problems of the Curia better; you could have made sure the Curia wasn't going off in different directions -- the Curia being the sort of administration, the central administration of the church.
And so the pope was criticized. Just very quietly, of course, ... sotto voce, as they say in Italy, [the pope] was criticized by some in the Curia. And a lot of people would like to see a more centralized operation, a stronger hands-on operation as far as the next pope is concerned.
But by the same token, to have those skills and also have the public skills, you're asking a lot. ... There's just no one out there on the horizon that sort of fits all the demands that are going to be made.
