As Pope John Paul approaches a new milestone of becoming history's third-longest serving pontiff, the joke around the Vatican these days goes like this: "The Pope has already buried most of his successors".
The frail pope on Sunday marks his 9,281st day in office, or 25 years and five months, surpassing Pope Leo XIII to take third place in the papal longevity stakes. Only St Peter and Pius IX held office longer, both for more than 30 years.
While no celebrations are planned, questions will go through the minds of many of the world's estimated one billion Catholics.
How much longer can this papacy go on like this? Is the pope really still in charge? Is constant attention to the ups and downs of the pope's health taking focus away from the principal mission of the Church to preach the gospel?
When the pope, who suffers from Parkinson's and other ailments, marked his 25th anniversary in October, he appeared in terrible condition. He cut back appearances, aides read his speeches and his words were often incomprehensible.
But the 83-year-old pope has bounced back yet again.
In the past few months he has been enjoying what insiders call "a new stability". Visitors who once found him distant now say he is much more communicative and alert than they expected.
When a priest at a meeting mentioned the name of a poet who wrote in the dialect of 19th century Rome, the Polish pope spoke in the dialect, which even many Italians could not do.
A prelate who was recently promoted to a position where he has more contact with the pope said he was surprised.
"I had to change my own opinion. I expected him to be much less hands-on. Then I started having working meetings and lunches with him and he really was with it, knowledgeable and clearly following things," said the prelate.
In the past few months, he has filled either the top or number two spots at six Vatican departments, which aides say proves he is making his own decisions. "It has not been as static around here as some people say," said another prelate.
The Pope has learned to cope with not being able to walk - he presides at services from a throne with wheels - and is even expected to go on the road again. A trip to Switzerland in June appears certain and there is talk of others within Europe.
BUSINESS AS USUAL OR STAGNATION
But while some say it appears to be business as usual, others note a feeling of stagnation in the Church -- a feeling that gets worse the further one travels away from the Vatican.
"The problem is not whether the pope is at the tiller or not, the problem is whether there is enough winds in the Church's sails today," said Church historian Alberto Melloni.
Some analysts say the Church may be falling behind in preparing for challenges of the 21st century - particularly avoiding a clash between the Judeo-Christian West and Islam.
As with every milestone reached, Sunday's third-place record also raises the question of whether future popes should have a mandatory retirement age, as do bishops, who resign at 75.
Melloni said a mandatory retirement age for popes is "the direction the Church is going". But experts say it would be fraught with dangers.
"The strong points of the Church's current monarchical structure are its stability and continuity over time," said Father Thomas Reese, editor of the Jesuit weekly America.
"But its weak point is that one person becomes so predominantly important to the life of the organisation and if he becomes enfeebled or is a problem, then the entire Church has a problem...," Reese said.
Reese said that if popes were obliged to retire at a given age, the last few years of their papacy could be marked by disruptive political manoeuvring.
"If we all knew there was going to be a papal election in two years, the politics would be frantic," he said.