2005

==Events==
* April 8: Funeral of Pope John Paul II.
* April 19: Cardinal Joseph Alois Ratzinger is elected Pope, takes the name Pope Benedict XVI.
* April 24: Pope Benedict XVI celebrates his Papal Inauguration Mass.
* April 27: Pope Benedict XVI holds his first General Audience in Saint Peter's Square.
* May 7: Pope Benedict XVI takes possession of the Basilica of St. John Lateran.
* May 9: Jordan, Israel, and the Palestinian Authority sign an agreement to begin feasibility studies on the "Two Seas Canal" project, a plan to save the Dead Sea from evaporation by building a canal to the Red Sea.
* May 9: Pope Benedict XVI, citing "exceptional circumstances," waives the usual five-year waiting period and opens the cause of Beatification for Pope John Paul II. This is the first step towards Canonization. The current Pope's decision is announced on May 13.
* June 28: Camillo Cardinal Ruini inaugurates the diocesan phase of the cause for Beatification for Pope John Paul II in the Lateran Basilica.
* August 9: The Kansas Board of Education drafted new "science standards that require critical analysis of evolution – including scientific evidence refuting the theory." This may allow the teaching of intelligent design in Kansas schools.
==Deaths==
* April 2: Pope John Paul II.
* August 16: Frère Roger, Swiss monk and mystic (b. 1915)
Category:Years