Rome: Sede Vacante

Written By Justin Merriman
 Emma Connaughton, 20, and Joshua Walden, 21, both of Northampton, England embrace in St. Peter's Square in the Vatican City, the papal enclave within Rome on Saturday evening. Cardinals from around the world are gathering in Rome and are expected to soon announce a date for the conclave where 115 cardinals will chose a successor to Pope Benedict XVI, the leader of some 1.2 billion Catholics worldwide, who resigned Feb. 28.
A man stands in St. Peter's Square in front of the basilica early Wednesday morning in Vatican City, as the College of Cardinals continued their General Congregations at the Vatican in preparation for the conclave that will elect the next pontiff.
  Light streams in through a window near the Monument to Maria Clementina Sobieski at St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican. The Basilica's interior is decorated by some of the great artists like Geon Lorenzo Bernini and Michelangelo.
 A nun leaves the Altar of St. Joseph after praying in St. Peter's Basilica
 A priest stands near the Altar of St. Joseph in St. Peter's Basilica
 St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican.
 Bailey Marget, 21, a student from Richmond, Virginia, takes photographs of the interior of St. Peter's Basilica as she visits the Vatican City on Sunday, March 3, 2013 .  “I wish that we could have a pope that respected women more and valued their role in the Catholic Church more,” said Marget. “I am Catholic but believe in a lot of spirituality. I want more understanding from the church,” she said.
 As the College of Cardinals continued their General Congregations at the Vatican in preparation for the conclave that will elect the next pontiff, people visit St. Peter's Square in Vatican City.
 Papal Swiss Guards stand near an entrance to St. Peter's Basilica.
 Brother Luke Gill, 24, of Richmond, Virginia, who is studying to become a priest, stands outside of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican on Monday.  “It is exciting to be here in the heart of the church during such a special and exciting time,” he said. “We all want that father figure in the pope, to guide us and show us the way to fall more in love with Christ,” said Gill.
 Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, left, and  Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston, right, answer questions from the media at the Pontifical North American College in Rome, during a briefing on the General Congregations. Cardinal O'Malley, lived in South Hills and attended Saint Gabriel and Sacred Heart Elementary Schools in Pittsburgh and St. Fidelis High School Seminary in Butler, PA. Cardinal DiNardo was raised attending St. Anne Parish in Castle Shannon and after his 1977 ordination he served at St. Pius X in Brookline and Madonna del Castello in Swissvale.
 A lone bird flies above St. Peter's Basilica.
 St. Peter's Square in Vatican City.
A couple embracing each other sit, basking in the light, in St. Peter's Square in Vatican City.
Justin Merriman

Justin Merriman, a freelance photojournalist based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has traveled the world to cover politics, wars, natural disasters, civil unrest as well as covering assignment throughout the United States. His work has appeared in leading national publications and he has received multiple top journalism awards.   

After covering the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks – including the crash of United Flight 93 in Shanksville, Pennsylvania – Merriman committed to chronicling the U.S. military and its war on terror.  He has followed this story across the United States and into the conflict zones of Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iraq. He also has covered life in Fidel Castro’s Cuba in 2002, India’s efforts to eradicate polio from its population, the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to Cuba in 2012, the 2013 conclave and election of Pope Francis in Rome, the second anniversary of Egypt’s revolution and subsequent unrest, Russia’s invasion of Crimea and the international political crisis that unfolded in Ukraine in 2014, a look inside of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp in 2015 and its uncertain future, and most recently, traveled the entire U.S. border with Mexico documenting issues on immigration. 

Merriman’s work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, the Atlantic, Time, USA Today, Sports Illustrated and other publications across the globe. 

He has been recognized with numerous regional, national and international awards from organizations including Pictures of the Year International, Society of Professional Journalists, the National Press Photographers Association, the Society for News Design, the Atlanta Photojournalism Seminar, the Northern Short Course, the Southern Short Course, the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, the Military Reporters and Editors Association, and the Western Pennsylvania Press Club. He was awarded Photographer of the Year by the News Photographer Association of Greater Pittsburgh four times and most recently was honored with the Keystone Press Award’s 2016 Distinguished Visual Award from the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association.

Born in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, Merriman graduated from the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg in 2000 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Writing. In 2009, the university awarded him its prestigious Alumnus of Distinction award. 

Currently Merriman lives in Oakmont with his fiancé, Stephanie Strasburg, a photojournalist with PublicSource. 

http://www.justinmerriman.com
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