By Michelle Clifford, Sky News Correspondent
The cardinals heading into today's Conclave in Rome know they won't see the world outside the Vatican walls again until they have picked a new Pontiff.
The highly secretive process has been experienced by few men over the last century. British Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor is one of them.
In 2005 he helped pick Pope Benedict XVI and the memory of that first day is still etched on to his psyche.
"I can still remember walking in and it looked absolutely magnificent in the Sistine Chapel. The wonderful frescoes of Michelangelo. The Last Judgement on the altar.
"And the wonderful images around the walls," he said.
Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor recalls the enormity of the task ahead of them. Knowing the choice they made would impact the lives of more than a billion Catholics. And in a blink the moment was upon them.
"And then suddenly the junior Cardinal says: 'Everybody out. Extra Omnes,' and so all the servers, the ministers, the people go.
"And he shuts the huge doors with a big thud. And so there's just 115 of us and we all look at each other and think, well one of us is going to come out not with a scarlet cassock but with a white one".
He remembers the process as a solemn and holy one.
The elector cardinals go to the Sistine Chapel in 2005 Each cardinal felt the weight of responsibility to make the right choice. And the tension wasn't helped during each round of voting by the fact that every man knew there was a chance, however small, that he could be picked.
"The cardinal sitting near me was going rather white. You could tell he was thinking 'gosh, I really don't want this'. And between you and me, I think every cardinal had a name up his sleeve just in case."
He himself had chosen Adrian after the only English Pope and Gregory. He also toyed with Benedict - the name the cardinal he picked for Pope took.
Such is the secrecy around the vote the cardinals go into lockdown inside the Vatican. They vote, eat and live together. And the debate about who should be leader goes on well after they leave the Sistine Chapel each day.
He remembers well the stoves erected in the Sistine Chapel to burn the ballot papers after each round.
Black smoke was sent up if no-one had been elected. But when white smoke emerged from the Sistine chapel chimney the outside world learned what the cardinals inside already knew - a Pope had been selected.
"You could have heard a pin drop as the last votes were counted. It was a very dramatic moment. It felt extraordinary," he said.
The then Cardinal Ratzinger announced the name he had chosen for himself and then disappeared out for a short moment to be transformed.
Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor explained: "There is a tailor outside the door with three cassocks. Small, large and medium. And what is amazing is that he comes back wearing a white cassock and we gave him a great clap and we all went up one by one and kissed his ring.
"And it didn't matter whether you voted for him or not - he is Pope."
Some cardinals say it is a process they would not want to repeat - such is the burden of responsibility.
But Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor would be happy to oblige despite knowing that when he came out his family would ask the same two questions they did the last time.
He said: "My nephew asked what was the food like. I told him good. I then asked him what his other questions was. He said 'How many votes did you get?'"
On that point the Cardinal's lips are sealed.
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