Here's some important old news that is new to me. They see the church as the only global structure able to do this. He is seen as a defender of medieval traditions. They want a Pope who shares their more liberal, globalist view. The Church today is divided.
Monolithic faith is gone.
The new rival factions are the traditionalists who prefer the church as it was before the reforms of the Second Vatican Council and conciliarists who want to liberalize church doctrine on everything from divorce and contraception to abortion and homosexuality. The numbers are about even, but conciliarists hold the positions of power. They think John Paul II is too conservative. Neither likes the Pope's policies. They are preparing for the selection of the next Pope.