Selective collection of 183 Web sites, archived from April 13, 2005 to May 2, 2005 in order to capture the Internet reaction to the death of the Roman Catholic pope, John Paul II, who died on April 2, 2005, through the transition period and election of the 265th pope, Benedict XVI, on April 19, 2005. The death of a presiding pope of the Catholic Church was an event that affected more than one billion Catholics worldwide, and also marked the departure of an influential world leader. The papal transition of 2005 marked the first election of a pope in the Internet age, leading to the selection and archiving of sites that were international in scope, including the Web sites of religious bodies, religious organizations, related Roman Catholic Web resources, United States and foreign government sites, international press sites that covered the papal transition, as well as Web-based editorials, public opinion sites, tributes and memorials, blogs, and other relevant sites.