For many of the cardinals gathering in Rome to bury Pope John Paul and elect his successor, the job description is clear - they want someone a lot like the last one.
"Perhaps the best way to sum it up: we need another John Paul," said Cardinal Wilfrid Napier of South Africa. "A people's Pope, one who's especially got an appeal and a challenge for the youth."
As hundreds of thousands of Catholics queued for hours to spend a few seconds filing past the body of John Paul in St Peter's basilica, many of the cardinals meeting nearby said the new pope must be able to command similar respect and love.
"I feel that Pope John Paul was accepted by everyone, inside and outside the church community, and I think he was the Pope figure that could fulfil the hopes of everyone," said Cardinal Julius Darmaatmadja of Indonesia.
Such views are perhaps not surprising given that all but two of the 117 cardinals eligible to choose the new pope owe their present positions to John Paul.
African cardinals, especially, said they wanted the successor to continue the strict doctrinal line of John Paul who never wavered in his traditional opposition to women priests, contraception and homosexuality.
"The church needs a leader who'll be as true to its teachings as possible, even if it's the minority view," said Cardinal Peter Turkson of Ghana.
"The church doesn't survive by itself. It's God, it's Jesus who saves us. So it's His will which we recognise. And that can be a minority view and be rejected and be opposed. "I don't know who I'll be voting for, but it's possible for an African Pope to be chosen," he added.
South Africa's Napier also said he wanted a Pope with the vision of John Paul and, if possible, from the developing world, home to two thirds of the world's 1.1 billion Catholics.
"It would be great, of course, if it were somebody from the vibrant South where the faith is lived with a great deal of enthusiasm and not simply as a custom that one feels one has to carry on."
But the Ivory Coast's Cardinal Bernard Agre said the possibility of a black Pope was very small.
"Psychologically and spiritually the West isn't ready to welcome a black Pope. There is no exclusion to speak of but it is people's mentality. It will take time for people to get used to that," he said.
A date for the secretive conclave election has not yet been set and few cardinals have named their favourite candidates.
But Poland's Zenon Grocholewski raised some eyebrows when he said possible frontrunner Joseph Ratzinger of Germany was a "strong personality" but, at 77, may be seen as too old.
Cardinal Francis George of Chicago took the bold step of listing two cardinals he saw as strong candidates.
Dionigi Tettamanzi of Milan has shown he can defend Church beliefs in the face of modern science, he told the Chicago Tribune, and Nigeria's Francis Arinze had strong qualities in interfaith relations and spreading the gospel.
He said if they want the new pope to focus on the plight of the poor, cardinals should look to candidates from Latin America and the Philippines.