Voices.

This afternoon I heard a radio clip of Pope Benedict speaking in Ireland, which he is currently visiting. This was my first time hearing his voice, and to me it seems much less distinctive and powerful that John Paul II's. He sounds more like a parish priest, or an academic, which is what he has spent much of his life as.

Personally I suspect Benedict is probably more a transitional pope as anything. Given his age I suspect he was chosen, at least by some of the electors, as a pope who will have a relatively short reign that will allow some of the potential future candidates for the job to solidify their positions.