Rich and poor of all religious faiths bid farewell the giant of a man of the 20th century. The attendance of 200 world leaders (four Kings, five Queens and at least 70 Presidents including President Bush) at the funeral is one of the biggest for a long time. It was an unprecedented gathering where world leaders rubbed shoulders with the poor.

On the sidelines, diplomatic history has been created when Israeli President Moshe Katsov (born in Iran) shook hands with Iran's President Mohammad Khatami and reportedly spoke in Persian to each other. Israeli President who stood in front of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad also shook hands with him and Prince Charles with Zimbabwean President Mugabe.

Pope John Paul was essentially a giant of a man of the 20th century. When he was elected as the Pope in 1978, the biggest concern in the world was the Cold War and the Communist regimes in Eastern Europe including his native land Poland. His crusade against Communism was subtle and behind-the-scenes. His several visits to Poland with the message of freedom led ultimately to the demise of Communism first in Poland, followed by other Eastern European countries. It was the greatest legacy Pope John Paul II has left as he changed the world.

His chequered Polish background had deep impact on his ideas. It may be recalled Poland led the Counter-Reformation movement against Martin Luther's reforms, where Catholics prided themselves on being more Catholic than the Pope. His social conservative policies on women ordination, birth control, right of abortion, divorce and stem cell research largely alienated a large section among liberal Catholics.

Although Pope John Paul II was a very compassionate man, some of his policies such as denial of birth control practices had adverse impact on poor people in developing countries where population has been increasing by leaps and bounds ( on average seven to nine children in Africa per family) and in Africa where AIDS kills more people than other diseases do.

Critics say that there are many contradictions about John Paul II which make many Catholics ambivalent about his papacy. In world affairs, he was generally a voice for liberalism, for human rights and freedom, for better understanding between cultures, for reconciliation between religions. At the same time, he was seen as the most centralising Pope who silenced its internal critics within Catholic Church.

The liberal ideas piloted by the Vatican Council II by Pope John XXIII in the 60s were not pursued. One of the recommendations of the Vatican Council was that the Pope should no longer be seen as chief executive officer of the Catholic Church but as a court of appeal, a place of last resort, a motivator, an enabler rather than a doer, a leader whose main responsibility was not so much to be parish priest to the whole world but just a kindly pastor to his fellow Bishops when they need him ( Pope is also the Bishop of Rome).

Catholic Church at the 21st century
As European countries became affluent, they became secular-minded. As a result, many young people gradually began to turn away from the Church. Religion is being seen as antithetical to science and cannot resolve the problems facing human kind in their societies.

Critics say Catholic Church did not become relevant to them with ultra social conservative views. Even among the deeply Catholic Irish and Spanish population, younger people saw Vatican's view on abortion archaic and not conducive to changing environment of society. Religion is for humankind but critics say that Catholic Church seems to ignore it.

Another great change has been the demography of Catholic population across the world.. The current Catholic population is 60 per cent non-white and young who live in developing countries. Among more than one billion Catholic population, the break up is estimated to be as follows: Latin America and Caribbean: 500 million; Europe: 282 million; Africa: 143 million; Asia: 113 million; North America: 60 million.

Given the above figures, Catholic population in developing countries stands at 756 million, while that in developed countries is only 342 million. However the number of Cardinals does not match the number of non-white Catholic population.

The breakup of 117 Cardinals under the age of 80 who are eligible to vote is : Europe 58, North America 14, Caribbean/Latin America: 21, Africa 13 and Asia 11, although Pope John Paul II had appointed more Cardinals from non-European countries than any other Pope did.

Under the papal reign of John Paul II, the College of Cardinals has become internationalised. Many Catholics in developing countries want to see a non-European Pope. At the funeral, Nigerians came to lend support to their Cardinal Francis Arinze (72), head of the Vatican department that supervises Catholic worship. Latin American people desire one of their Cardinals, namely Geraldo Majella Agnelo (71), Claudio Hummes (70) and Jorge Mario Bergoglio (68) to be the next Pope.

All the above-mentioned Cardinals have shown pastoral leadership, have a broad theological education and are respected in home countries. However Cardinal Arinze is known to have very conservative social views.

Challenges for the next Pope
The Cardinals are reportedly uncertain which way the Church should take in the new century. At the dawn of the 21st century, the concerns are totally different from those of the 20th century. Rapid developments in science and biotechnology, secularity of society and misunderstanding between Christians and Muslims dominate the prevailing. environment.

The new Pope will need to be conversant with the issues and must have the clear vision on how to apply Church teachings to the 21st century developments. Cloning, stem cell research and new possibilities of genetic screening are necessary to prevent and cure many incurable diseases and Catholic Church will be put to test as to whether it can reconcile with the latest biotechnology.

Another challenge is whether power of Bishops should be given back. During the papal reign of John Paul II, there is deep resentment for the Vatican for the way Bishops have been marginalised and their authority limited by the Vatican bureaucracy.

Conclusion
Is it the time to get back on the course plotted by Vatican II between the centre and the periphery? Some experts on Catholic Church say that it is not a question of who can step into the great man's shoes, but who can put them aside quietly on one side and be his own man. Instead of mysticism and dogmatic views, it is for decentralization and normality.

If Catholic Church is to remain relevant to ordinary people, is it too much to hope that Cardinals will elect the next Pope (beginning from 18th April) who is capable of focusing the issues of the 21st century? Catholic Church needs to be united, cannot afford to continue to remain divided.

Barrister Harun ur Rashid is former Bangladesh Ambassador to the UN, Geneva and concurrently accredited as Ambassador to the Vatican.