The pope is by far the world's most visible religious figure. His office can be a bully pulpit on everything from salvation to the economy. In his overseas travels, he's greeted with the kind of pomp and reverence accorded major world leaders.

But as Pope Benedict XVI prepares to step down, questions are being raised about just how influential his successor can be. He will be taking command of a church that has been weakened in recent decades — by rising secularism in the West, fallout from clergy sex abuse, competition from Pentecostal groups in the developing world and crises within the Vatican itself.

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