Thousands of mourners stand in line as they wait to view the Pope's body of Pope John Paul II. Photograph: Joe Raedle/Getty
Sarah Left
Religious blogs have of course been closely watching the Pope's final days. Get Religion runs an impressive overview of media coverage and analysis, and looks to be the place to go for coverage of the upcoming conclave.
The Pope Blog follows every detail of the papal death in a thorough and factual, if slightly dull, manner, and is a great resource.
Domenico Bettinelli at Bettnet reminisces about the pope's 26 years as the head of the church, recalling moments that demonstrate his humour as well as his moral leadership. This includes pointing the way to a photo of a mischievous John Paul II wearing Bono's sunglasses as a joke.
In some quarters, thoughts have already turned to the election of the next pope. The conservative Catholic blog Mere Comments warns: "Simple Christians have a name for the Enlightened Person and his religion: Antichrist. Let us make no mistake. Those who have the consummate nerve on the death of the pope to tell the Christians for whom he stood what they (and the next pope) should believe and do, in defiance of his teaching and the whole Christian tradition, have, to say the least, no standing among us. If the next pope agrees with the pontificators, he's not catholic."
Of course, not everyone is celebrating the Pope's legacy. Certainly Peter Tatchell at Outrage! criticises John Paul II's stance on condoms and gays.
For others, the only response is stunned silence. Catholic Apologetics of America has decided not to post anything at all until a new pope is elected, as a mark of respect.
