BREAKING NEWS: 'It's in the air!' Thousands join last mass with cardinals before pope conclave

By Alastair Jamieson, Staff writer, NBC News

VATICAN CITY – Thousands crowded St. Peter’s Square early Tuesday for the chance to join Roman Catholic cardinals for a special pre-conclave Mass as they prepared to choose the next pope.
The “Mass Pro Eligendo Pontifice” was due to begin inside the imposing St Peter’s Basilica at 10 a.m. local time (5 a.m. ET) in front of a small congregation of worshippers chosen from the square on a first-come, first-served basis.
Deliberation and voting in the papal conclave, which takes places in the 16^th century Sistine Chapel, won’t begin until after 5 p.m. local time (12 p.m. ET) Tuesday.

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Before that, there’ll be more ceremony: After lunch, the 115 cardinals eligible to vote will move from their temporary residential quarters at in the Casa Santa Marta to the Pauline Chapel from where they will form a procession into the Sistine Chapel.

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It will be the last time they are seen publicly until they choose the new pope – a process that could take several days and will be heralded by the appearance of white smoke from the chimney above the chapel. In the meantime, they will be isolated from the outside world and banned from using cellphones or watching television.
Once inside, each will swear an oath of secrecy – a breach is punishable by ex-communication – before an official proclaims in Latin “Extra omnes,” meaning all others present must leave.
The oath-taking process is expected to last about an hour, and will be followed by mediation and prayer led by Cardinal Prosper Grech.
When the voting finally begins Tuesday, there will be one round of voting in the late afternoon, followed by two every morning and two every afternoon until someone gets two-thirds of the votes.
During the day, cardinals will deliberate inside the Sistine Chapel beneath Michelangelo's "Creation of Adam." At night, they will be taken by shuttle bus the short distance to the modest rooms in Casa Santa Marta, which John Paul II had built in 1996.
Such is the importance of secrecy that Vatican officials have installed jamming devices to prevent the use of cellphones by cardinals or hidden microphones by anyone wanting to hear their deliberations.

Slideshow: Pope Benedict XVI's departure

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The pope delivers his final audience in St. Peter's Square as he prepares to stand down.

Launch slideshow

Although there is no definitive favorite to take the helm, cardinals have been holding a series of General Congregations in recent days to discuss the qualities they would like to see in their new leader.
No conclave has lasted than more than five days in the past century, with most finishing within two or three days. Pope Benedict was elected within barely 24 hours in 2005 after just four rounds of voting.
Benedict triggered the election last month with his shock decision to abdicate because of his increasingly frail health - the first pontiff to step down in six centuries.
He leaves his successor a sea of troubles - including seemingly never-ending sex-abuse scandals, rivalry and strife inside the Vatican bureaucracy, a shortage of priests and a rise of secularism in its European strongholds.