Papal Election Update: Conclave Begins At The Vatican [LIVE STREAM]

The papal election, aka the process to select the next leader of the Holy Roman Catholic Church, began today. The selection process, which will choose a pope to replace Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI is expected to take no longer than five days.

The "conclave", as the meeting is called, is made up of 115 cardinal-electors from around the world. The cardinals entered the Sistine Chapel of the Vatican this morning, chanting a prayer to help guide their decision to the saints. The electors then kneeled underneath Michelangelo's Last Judgment fresco and took a vow of secrecy regarding the proceedings.

"We clerics and lay people promise and pledge to maintain, with the utmost faithfulness, secrecy over everything that concerns the election of the Roman Pontiff, and everything that takes place in the election," Italian Cardinal Giovanni Batista Re said in Latin before the cardinals took their vows, according to Bloomberg News.

The electors will vote until one papal candidate is chosen via a 2/3rds majority. The votes are held throughout the day and ballots are burned via a special stove that was installed in the Sistine chapel last week. The ballots are coated with a chemical that will release black smoke over St. Peter's Square, indicating that voting continues.

If white smoke is seen emitting from Vatican chimneys, it means that a new pope has been chosen.

The Vatican is taking extra precaution ensure that they are the ones who get to announce Benedict XVI's successor. The cardinals are forbidden from revealing any details on threat of excommunication and it is believed that the Sistine chapel has been outfitted with technology that will scramble any device attempting to listen in on the conclave.

Italian Cardinal Angelo Scola is the odds-on favorite (9-4) to become the next Pope according to bookies at William Hill. Ghanan Cardinal Peter Turkson is next (7-2) and another Italian cardinal, Tarcisio Bertone, rounds out the top three (5-1). The need for a papal replacement came on Feb 28, when Benedict XVI became the first pope to abdicate the throne in over 600 years.

NBC News is offering a live stream of the event here.