Prayerful, playful, mystical: Some of AP’s most compelling religion photos of 2024.
Prayerful, playful, mystical: Some of AP’s most compelling religion photos of 2024.
Mexica dancers burn incense during a ceremony commemorating the 503rd anniversary of the fall of the Aztec empire’s capital, Tenochtitlan, in Mexico City, Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)
A monk plays with a dog outside a monastery in Samdrup Jongkhar, Bhutan, Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
Rev. Yileyvis Cruz stands by as congregants embrace during a service at the Metropolitan Community Church, an LGBTQ+ inclusive house of worship, in Matanzas, Cuba, Friday, Feb. 2, 2024. In recent years, the communist-run island barred anti-gay discrimination, and a 2022 government-backed “family law” allowed same-sex couples the right to marry and adopt. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
Gloria Esperanza Reyes makes her monthly offering of flowers and sugarcane syrup to Yemaya, the Yoruba goddess of the sea, in Havana, Cuba, Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024. She also is venerated as Our Lady of Regla, a Black Madonna at a Catholic church across the Bay of Havana. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
Jeremiah Manley, left, and other attendees at The Cove, an 18-and-up, pop-up Christian nightclub, raise their arms in worship on Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. The Cove was started last year by seven Black Christian men in their 20s who sought to build a thriving community and a welcoming space for young adults outside houses of worship. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
Above ground graves are placed next to each other under the shade of a banyan tree at the Lincoln Memorial Park Cemetery, Monday, Feb. 26, 2024, in the Brownsville neighborhood of Miami. The cemetery holds the remains of 10,000 Black Americans, including some of Miami’s most influential figures including Miami’s first Black millionaire, D.A. Dorsey, and Gwen Cherry, Florida’s first Black woman to serve in Florida’s legislature. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)
A woman walks down an alley in the Old City of Jerusalem, Sunday, March 10, 2024. Officials in Saudi Arabia have declared the start of the fasting month of Ramadan after sighting the crescent moon Sunday night. The announcement marks the beginning of Ramadan for many of the world’s 1.8 billion Muslims. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Hats reading, “God, Guns and Trump,” and “Jesus is my savior, Trump is my president,” are sold at a campaign rally for former president Donald Trump in Vandalia, Ohio, on Saturday, March 16, 2024. Trump, who is coasting into a third Republican presidential nomination, continues to draw strong support from evangelicals and other conservative Christians. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
Khenpo Paljor, a Tibetan lama from Des Moines, Iowa, leads a prayer at the Birthplace of Antioch marker, Saturday, March 16, 2024, in Antioch, Calif. Participants of the event titled “May We Gather” placed traditional Tibetan scarves on the marker as they prayed for peace and harmony. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vasquez)
Children run past a mural memorializing 19 locals who were shot and burned in Camargo, Mexico, as they attempted to migrate to the U.S., in Comitancillo, Guatemala, Tuesday, March 19, 2024. In this small town, nearly two dozen local migrants have died in recent mass tragedies: either asphyxiated in the trailer in San Antonio, Texas, in June 2022 or shot and set afire by rogue police officers in Camargo, Mexico, in January 2021. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
Residents of Ezbet Hamada in Cairo’s El Matareya district light flares as the celebrate mass breakfast, “Iftar”, the meal to end their fast at sunset, during the holy fasting month of Ramadan in Cairo, Egypt, Monday, March 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
“Ramazan davulcusu” or Ramadan drummer Muzaffer Kara gets dressed with a traditional attire at his house, in Istanbul, Thursday, March 28, 2024. From the Ottoman era, drummers dressed up with traditional attire play drums in their neighbourhoods at early morning hours to wake up people for “suhoor” or pre-dawn meal during the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
A Muslim woman prays near the Dome of the Rock Mosque at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound for the third Friday prayers of the holy month of Ramadan in the Old City of Jerusalem, Friday, March 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
Rev. Gina Stewart preaches during church service at Rankin Chapel, Sunday, April 7, 2024, in Washington. Throughout its long history, the Black Church in America has, for the most part, been a patriarchal institution. Now, more Black women are taking on high-profile leadership roles. But the founder of Women of Color in Ministry estimates that less than one in 10 Black Protestant congregations are led by a woman. “I would hope that we can knock down some of those barriers so that their journey would be just a little bit easier,” said Stewart. (AP Photo/Terrance Williams)
Students pray during recess in the mosque at Ibn Khaldoun, a private Muslim school, in Marseille, southern France, Tuesday, April 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)
Wearing a necklace with her name in Hebrew, Charlotte Gleicher, 7, a first grader at Milton Gottesman Jewish Day School of the Nation’s Capital, is helped by her teacher, Dafna Kiverstein, to roll out dough for matzah during a “Matzah Factory” field trip at the JCrafts Center for Jewish Life and Tradition in Rockville, Md., Thursday, April 18, 2024, ahead of the Passover holiday. To be kosher for Passover, which begins next Monday evening, the dough has to be prepared and cooked all within 18 minutes and not allowed to rise. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
A Muslim woman walks by an icon of the Virgin Mary and Jesus at the Notre Dame de la Garde Basilica in Marseille, southern France, Friday, April 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)
A dove takes flight as people attend the St. George vodou celebration in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, April 24, 2024. Hundreds of Haitians flocked to the hill for the annual celebration of St. George, a Christian martyr who was believed to be a Roman soldier and is revered by both Catholics and Vodouists. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa, File)
Hindu devotees climb stairs to reach on top of a mud volcano to start Hindu pilgrims religious’ rituals for an annual festival in an ancient cave temple of Hinglaj Mata in Hinglaj in Lasbela district in Pakistan’s southwestern Baluchistan province, Friday, April 26, 2024. More than 100,000 Hindus are expected to climb mud volcanoes and steep rocks in southwestern Pakistan as part of a three-day pilgrimage to one of the faith’s holiest sites. (AP Photo/Mohammad Farooq)
Vodou pilgrims attend a Mass marking the feast day of agriculture and work, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. Amid the spiraling chaos, a growing number of Haitians are praying more or visiting Vodou priests known as “oungans” for urgent requests ranging from locating loved ones who were kidnapped to finding critical medication needed to keep someone alive. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
Ethiopian Orthodox Christian worshippers walk the Way of the Cross procession that commemorates Jesus Christ’s crucifixion on Good Friday, in the Old City of Jerusalem, Friday, May 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
The Rev. Brandon Thomas Crowley speaks during Sunday service at Myrtle Baptist Church Sunday, May 5, 2024 in Newton, Mass. In 2015, Crowley, the senior pastor of the church, one of America’s oldest Black churches, announced to his congregation, “I am a proud, Black, gay Christian male.” (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)
Sam Earle, left, and his wife, Tori, watch their daughter, Novalie, swing in their backyard Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in Lakeland, Fla. Novalie was born through an embryo adoption. “God can use everything to His glory,” says Sam, 30. “There’s certainly an aspect that you consider with IVF: the ethics of freezing more embryos than you need. … But for families who struggle with infertility, it’s a beautiful opportunity.” (AP Photo/Mike Carlson)
Beth Stroud sheds a tear pondering what reinstatement would mean 20 years after she was defrocked from her job as a United Methodist pastor in Philadelphia, Sunday, May 12, 2024, at Turning Point United Methodist Church in Trenton, N.J. Delegates at a United Methodist conference recently struck down longstanding anti-LGBTQ bans and created a path for clergy ousted because of them to seek reinstatement. (AP Photo/Luis Andres Henao)
Muslim pilgrims gather at the top of the rocky hill known as the Mountain of Mercy, on the Plain of Arafat, during the annual Hajj pilgrimage, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, June 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
A riverboat carrying the Eucharist cruises down the Ohio River between Wellsburg, West Virginia, and Brilliant, Ohio, Sunday, June 23, 2024. The voyage is part of a two-month series of cross-country pilgrimages focused on the Eucharist, seeking to raise devotion around a sacrament in which Catholics believe they encounter Jesus’ real presence. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
Sister Mary Fatima Pham, second from right, kneels with her fellow Catholics as they watch the Eucharist brought on board a boat on the Ohio River at the Steubenville Marina in Steubenville, Ohio, Sunday, June 23, 2024. The National Eucharistic Pilgrimage will conclude at the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis in mid-July, the first held in more than 80 years. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
A child is baptized in Lalish, the Yazidi’s most holy temple, in the Shekhan district of the Kurdistan region of Iraq, Monday, June 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Julia Zimmermann)
Beatie Deutsch, an Orthodox Jewish runner, trains in Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, June 26, 2024. “I’d love governing bodies of sports to do more to accommodate religion,” said the 34-year-old mother of five. She qualified to represent Israel in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics but didn’t compete because the women’s marathon was scheduled for a Saturday, when she observes shabbat. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum sings during her last service at the Masonic Hall, Friday, June 28, 2024, in New York. After leading the nation’s largest LGBTQ+ synagogue through the myriad ups and downs of the modern gay-rights movement for the last three decades, she is now stepping down from that role and shifting into retirement. The synagogue that she led for 32 years — Congregation Beit Simchat Torah in midtown Manhattan — will have to grapple with its identity after being defined by its celebrity rabbi for so long. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)
Josep-Maria Grosset, a student of the Vall d’en Bas School of Bell Ringers, performs playing two bronze bells at the church bell tower of the12th-century Sant Romà church, at the tiny village of Joanetes, about two hours north of Barcelona, Spain, Saturday, June 29, 2024. A school set up to revive the manual ringing of church bells has graduated its first class of 18 students after learning their ringing skills. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Bharti Kumari, second left, and Sonam, centre in green, weep as the body of their mother, Savitri Devi, 50, who died from a stampede at a religious festival, is carried for cremation in Ramnagar, in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
Flames rise from the cremation pyre of Savitri Devi, 50, who died from a stampede which occurred at a religious festival, in Ramnagar, in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
The Apache Christ painting hangs behind the altar of St. Joseph Apache Mission church in Mescalero, New Mexico, Saturday, July 13, 2024. The painting, an icon that depicts Christ as a Mescalero medicine man, was the forefront of a tension-filled episode between the community and the local Diocese when it was removed by the church’s then priest when the region was reeling from wildfires. (AP Photo/Andres Leighton)
An Apache Crown Dancer whirls around the bonfire during a coming-of-age blessing ceremony for two young tribe women in Mescalero, New Mexico, Saturday, July 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Andres Leighton)
Light shines on a statue of Jesus in the chapel at the monastery of the Mount St. Scholastica Benedictine sisters in Atchison, Kan., Tuesday, July 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
The Rev. Ron Blakely smiles on stage during the Sunday Gospel Hour that he leads at Robert’s Western World honky tonk on Sunday, July 28, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Luis Andres Henao)
Daniel Wabuyi looks up during his traditional circumcision ritual, known as Imbalu, in Kamu village, Mbale, eastern Uganda, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Hajarah Nalwadda)
Marielle Louw, raised hands, and Andries Louw, missionaries from South Africa, pray during a worship service at Surf Church in Matosinhos beach in the suburbs of Porto, Portugal on Sunday, Aug. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Luis Andres Henao)
Seminarians leave after morning Mass at Ritapiret Major Seminary in Maumere, East NusaTenggara province, Indonesia, Friday, Aug. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)
A woman who escaped the Good News International Church in Shakahola after she said she was sexually assaulted, enters a house in the coastal city of Malindi, in southern Kenya, on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
Farmer and Presbyterian pastor Lee Scott pets one of the cows on his family farm, Laurel Oak Farm, in Butler, Pa., on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
A traditional dancer waits for the arrival of Pope Francis at Caritas Technical Secondary School in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
People greet Pope Francis as he travels in a car on way to another venue in Dili, East Timor, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)
Phara Pierre, right, and her daughter attend Mass at St Raphael Catholic church in Springfield, Ohio, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
Faithful hold up their helmets to be blessed during the IX Pilgrimage of the Blessing of Helmets that draws tens of thousands at the Roman Catholic holy shrine of Fatima, in Fatima, Portugal, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Ana Brigida)
Brother Luke, an Orthodox Christian monk, holds his 10-week-old German shepherd Pyrena on the grounds of the New Skete monastery, where he directs the dog breeding program that has provided both financial and spiritual support to the community for decades outside Cambridge, N.Y., on Oct. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Giovanna Dell’Orto)
Mintamir Endanew, left, and other members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church pray after a post-liturgy lunch of pancake-like injera bread on Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024, in Worthington, Minn. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
Indian army soldiers dance to celebrate Diwali near the Line of Control that divides Kashmir region between India and Pakistan, in Akhnoor sector, about 66 kilometers (41 miles) from Jammu, India, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Channi Anand)
A record 2.51 million earthen oil lamps are lit along the Saryu river during Deepotsav celebrations on the eve of Diwali, creating a new Guinness World Record, in Ayodhya, India, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
Members of the Amish community, Samuel Stoltzfus and his wife Lillian Stoltzfus, vote at a polling center at the Garden Spot Village retirement community in New Holland, Pa., Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Luis Andres Henao)
U.S.-born Buddhist lama, Jalue Dorje, right, and a member of the Minnesota Tibetan community bow and touch foreheads in a traditional Tibetan greeting at his 18th birthday and enthronement ceremony in Isanti, Minn., on Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Luis Andres Henao)
Attendants listen under the rain as a rabbi delivers an eulogy during a ceremony prior to the funeral of Israeli-Moldovan rabbi Zvi Kogan in Kfar Chabad, Israel, Monday Nov. 25, 2024. Kogan, 28, an ultra-Orthodox rabbi, was killed last week in Dubai where he ran a kosher grocery store. Israelis have flocked for commerce and tourism since the two countries forged diplomatic ties in the 2020 Abraham Accords.(AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
People walk past as France’s iconic Notre Dame Cathedral is reflected in a puddle Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024 in Paris before the formal reopening for the first time since a devastating fire nearly destroyed the 861-year-old landmark in 2019. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Mexica dancers burn incense during a ceremony commemorating the 503rd anniversary of the fall of the Aztec empire’s capital, Tenochtitlan, in Mexico City, Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)
Mexica dancers burn incense during a ceremony commemorating the 503rd anniversary of the fall of the Aztec empire’s capital, Tenochtitlan, in Mexico City, Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)
A monk plays with a dog outside a monastery in Samdrup Jongkhar, Bhutan, Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
A monk plays with a dog outside a monastery in Samdrup Jongkhar, Bhutan, Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
Rev. Yileyvis Cruz stands by as congregants embrace during a service at the Metropolitan Community Church, an LGBTQ+ inclusive house of worship, in Matanzas, Cuba, Friday, Feb. 2, 2024. In recent years, the communist-run island barred anti-gay discrimination, and a 2022 government-backed “family law” allowed same-sex couples the right to marry and adopt. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
Rev. Yileyvis Cruz stands by as congregants embrace during a service at the Metropolitan Community Church, an LGBTQ+ inclusive house of worship, in Matanzas, Cuba, Friday, Feb. 2, 2024. In recent years, the communist-run island barred anti-gay discrimination, and a 2022 government-backed “family law” allowed same-sex couples the right to marry and adopt. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
Gloria Esperanza Reyes makes her monthly offering of flowers and sugarcane syrup to Yemaya, the Yoruba goddess of the sea, in Havana, Cuba, Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024. She also is venerated as Our Lady of Regla, a Black Madonna at a Catholic church across the Bay of Havana. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
Gloria Esperanza Reyes makes her monthly offering of flowers and sugarcane syrup to Yemaya, the Yoruba goddess of the sea, in Havana, Cuba, Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024. She also is venerated as Our Lady of Regla, a Black Madonna at a Catholic church across the Bay of Havana. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
Jeremiah Manley, left, and other attendees at The Cove, an 18-and-up, pop-up Christian nightclub, raise their arms in worship on Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. The Cove was started last year by seven Black Christian men in their 20s who sought to build a thriving community and a welcoming space for young adults outside houses of worship. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
Jeremiah Manley, left, and other attendees at The Cove, an 18-and-up, pop-up Christian nightclub, raise their arms in worship on Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. The Cove was started last year by seven Black Christian men in their 20s who sought to build a thriving community and a welcoming space for young adults outside houses of worship. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
Above ground graves are placed next to each other under the shade of a banyan tree at the Lincoln Memorial Park Cemetery, Monday, Feb. 26, 2024, in the Brownsville neighborhood of Miami. The cemetery holds the remains of 10,000 Black Americans, including some of Miami’s most influential figures including Miami’s first Black millionaire, D.A. Dorsey, and Gwen Cherry, Florida’s first Black woman to serve in Florida’s legislature. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)
Above ground graves are placed next to each other under the shade of a banyan tree at the Lincoln Memorial Park Cemetery, Monday, Feb. 26, 2024, in the Brownsville neighborhood of Miami. The cemetery holds the remains of 10,000 Black Americans, including some of Miami’s most influential figures including Miami’s first Black millionaire, D.A. Dorsey, and Gwen Cherry, Florida’s first Black woman to serve in Florida’s legislature. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)
A woman walks down an alley in the Old City of Jerusalem, Sunday, March 10, 2024. Officials in Saudi Arabia have declared the start of the fasting month of Ramadan after sighting the crescent moon Sunday night. The announcement marks the beginning of Ramadan for many of the world’s 1.8 billion Muslims. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
A woman walks down an alley in the Old City of Jerusalem, Sunday, March 10, 2024. Officials in Saudi Arabia have declared the start of the fasting month of Ramadan after sighting the crescent moon Sunday night. The announcement marks the beginning of Ramadan for many of the world’s 1.8 billion Muslims. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Hats reading, “God, Guns and Trump,” and “Jesus is my savior, Trump is my president,” are sold at a campaign rally for former president Donald Trump in Vandalia, Ohio, on Saturday, March 16, 2024. Trump, who is coasting into a third Republican presidential nomination, continues to draw strong support from evangelicals and other conservative Christians. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
Hats reading, “God, Guns and Trump,” and “Jesus is my savior, Trump is my president,” are sold at a campaign rally for former president Donald Trump in Vandalia, Ohio, on Saturday, March 16, 2024. Trump, who is coasting into a third Republican presidential nomination, continues to draw strong support from evangelicals and other conservative Christians. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
Khenpo Paljor, a Tibetan lama from Des Moines, Iowa, leads a prayer at the Birthplace of Antioch marker, Saturday, March 16, 2024, in Antioch, Calif. Participants of the event titled “May We Gather” placed traditional Tibetan scarves on the marker as they prayed for peace and harmony. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vasquez)
Khenpo Paljor, a Tibetan lama from Des Moines, Iowa, leads a prayer at the Birthplace of Antioch marker, Saturday, March 16, 2024, in Antioch, Calif. Participants of the event titled “May We Gather” placed traditional Tibetan scarves on the marker as they prayed for peace and harmony. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vasquez)
Children run past a mural memorializing 19 locals who were shot and burned in Camargo, Mexico, as they attempted to migrate to the U.S., in Comitancillo, Guatemala, Tuesday, March 19, 2024. In this small town, nearly two dozen local migrants have died in recent mass tragedies: either asphyxiated in the trailer in San Antonio, Texas, in June 2022 or shot and set afire by rogue police officers in Camargo, Mexico, in January 2021. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
Children run past a mural memorializing 19 locals who were shot and burned in Camargo, Mexico, as they attempted to migrate to the U.S., in Comitancillo, Guatemala, Tuesday, March 19, 2024. In this small town, nearly two dozen local migrants have died in recent mass tragedies: either asphyxiated in the trailer in San Antonio, Texas, in June 2022 or shot and set afire by rogue police officers in Camargo, Mexico, in January 2021. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
Residents of Ezbet Hamada in Cairo’s El Matareya district light flares as the celebrate mass breakfast, “Iftar”, the meal to end their fast at sunset, during the holy fasting month of Ramadan in Cairo, Egypt, Monday, March 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
Residents of Ezbet Hamada in Cairo’s El Matareya district light flares as the celebrate mass breakfast, “Iftar”, the meal to end their fast at sunset, during the holy fasting month of Ramadan in Cairo, Egypt, Monday, March 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
“Ramazan davulcusu” or Ramadan drummer Muzaffer Kara gets dressed with a traditional attire at his house, in Istanbul, Thursday, March 28, 2024. From the Ottoman era, drummers dressed up with traditional attire play drums in their neighbourhoods at early morning hours to wake up people for “suhoor” or pre-dawn meal during the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
“Ramazan davulcusu” or Ramadan drummer Muzaffer Kara gets dressed with a traditional attire at his house, in Istanbul, Thursday, March 28, 2024. From the Ottoman era, drummers dressed up with traditional attire play drums in their neighbourhoods at early morning hours to wake up people for “suhoor” or pre-dawn meal during the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
A Muslim woman prays near the Dome of the Rock Mosque at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound for the third Friday prayers of the holy month of Ramadan in the Old City of Jerusalem, Friday, March 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
A Muslim woman prays near the Dome of the Rock Mosque at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound for the third Friday prayers of the holy month of Ramadan in the Old City of Jerusalem, Friday, March 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
Rev. Gina Stewart preaches during church service at Rankin Chapel, Sunday, April 7, 2024, in Washington. Throughout its long history, the Black Church in America has, for the most part, been a patriarchal institution. Now, more Black women are taking on high-profile leadership roles. But the founder of Women of Color in Ministry estimates that less than one in 10 Black Protestant congregations are led by a woman. “I would hope that we can knock down some of those barriers so that their journey would be just a little bit easier,” said Stewart. (AP Photo/Terrance Williams)
Rev. Gina Stewart preaches during church service at Rankin Chapel, Sunday, April 7, 2024, in Washington. Throughout its long history, the Black Church in America has, for the most part, been a patriarchal institution. Now, more Black women are taking on high-profile leadership roles. But the founder of Women of Color in Ministry estimates that less than one in 10 Black Protestant congregations are led by a woman. “I would hope that we can knock down some of those barriers so that their journey would be just a little bit easier,” said Stewart. (AP Photo/Terrance Williams)
Students pray during recess in the mosque at Ibn Khaldoun, a private Muslim school, in Marseille, southern France, Tuesday, April 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)
Students pray during recess in the mosque at Ibn Khaldoun, a private Muslim school, in Marseille, southern France, Tuesday, April 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)
Wearing a necklace with her name in Hebrew, Charlotte Gleicher, 7, a first grader at Milton Gottesman Jewish Day School of the Nation’s Capital, is helped by her teacher, Dafna Kiverstein, to roll out dough for matzah during a “Matzah Factory” field trip at the JCrafts Center for Jewish Life and Tradition in Rockville, Md., Thursday, April 18, 2024, ahead of the Passover holiday. To be kosher for Passover, which begins next Monday evening, the dough has to be prepared and cooked all within 18 minutes and not allowed to rise. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Wearing a necklace with her name in Hebrew, Charlotte Gleicher, 7, a first grader at Milton Gottesman Jewish Day School of the Nation’s Capital, is helped by her teacher, Dafna Kiverstein, to roll out dough for matzah during a “Matzah Factory” field trip at the JCrafts Center for Jewish Life and Tradition in Rockville, Md., Thursday, April 18, 2024, ahead of the Passover holiday. To be kosher for Passover, which begins next Monday evening, the dough has to be prepared and cooked all within 18 minutes and not allowed to rise. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
A Muslim woman walks by an icon of the Virgin Mary and Jesus at the Notre Dame de la Garde Basilica in Marseille, southern France, Friday, April 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)
A Muslim woman walks by an icon of the Virgin Mary and Jesus at the Notre Dame de la Garde Basilica in Marseille, southern France, Friday, April 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)
A dove takes flight as people attend the St. George vodou celebration in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, April 24, 2024. Hundreds of Haitians flocked to the hill for the annual celebration of St. George, a Christian martyr who was believed to be a Roman soldier and is revered by both Catholics and Vodouists. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa, File)
A dove takes flight as people attend the St. George vodou celebration in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, April 24, 2024. Hundreds of Haitians flocked to the hill for the annual celebration of St. George, a Christian martyr who was believed to be a Roman soldier and is revered by both Catholics and Vodouists. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa, File)
Hindu devotees climb stairs to reach on top of a mud volcano to start Hindu pilgrims religious’ rituals for an annual festival in an ancient cave temple of Hinglaj Mata in Hinglaj in Lasbela district in Pakistan’s southwestern Baluchistan province, Friday, April 26, 2024. More than 100,000 Hindus are expected to climb mud volcanoes and steep rocks in southwestern Pakistan as part of a three-day pilgrimage to one of the faith’s holiest sites. (AP Photo/Mohammad Farooq)
Hindu devotees climb stairs to reach on top of a mud volcano to start Hindu pilgrims religious’ rituals for an annual festival in an ancient cave temple of Hinglaj Mata in Hinglaj in Lasbela district in Pakistan’s southwestern Baluchistan province, Friday, April 26, 2024. More than 100,000 Hindus are expected to climb mud volcanoes and steep rocks in southwestern Pakistan as part of a three-day pilgrimage to one of the faith’s holiest sites. (AP Photo/Mohammad Farooq)
Vodou pilgrims attend a Mass marking the feast day of agriculture and work, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. Amid the spiraling chaos, a growing number of Haitians are praying more or visiting Vodou priests known as “oungans” for urgent requests ranging from locating loved ones who were kidnapped to finding critical medication needed to keep someone alive. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
Vodou pilgrims attend a Mass marking the feast day of agriculture and work, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. Amid the spiraling chaos, a growing number of Haitians are praying more or visiting Vodou priests known as “oungans” for urgent requests ranging from locating loved ones who were kidnapped to finding critical medication needed to keep someone alive. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
Ethiopian Orthodox Christian worshippers walk the Way of the Cross procession that commemorates Jesus Christ’s crucifixion on Good Friday, in the Old City of Jerusalem, Friday, May 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Ethiopian Orthodox Christian worshippers walk the Way of the Cross procession that commemorates Jesus Christ’s crucifixion on Good Friday, in the Old City of Jerusalem, Friday, May 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
The Rev. Brandon Thomas Crowley speaks during Sunday service at Myrtle Baptist Church Sunday, May 5, 2024 in Newton, Mass. In 2015, Crowley, the senior pastor of the church, one of America’s oldest Black churches, announced to his congregation, “I am a proud, Black, gay Christian male.” (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)
The Rev. Brandon Thomas Crowley speaks during Sunday service at Myrtle Baptist Church Sunday, May 5, 2024 in Newton, Mass. In 2015, Crowley, the senior pastor of the church, one of America’s oldest Black churches, announced to his congregation, “I am a proud, Black, gay Christian male.” (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)
Sam Earle, left, and his wife, Tori, watch their daughter, Novalie, swing in their backyard Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in Lakeland, Fla. Novalie was born through an embryo adoption. “God can use everything to His glory,” says Sam, 30. “There’s certainly an aspect that you consider with IVF: the ethics of freezing more embryos than you need. … But for families who struggle with infertility, it’s a beautiful opportunity.” (AP Photo/Mike Carlson)
Sam Earle, left, and his wife, Tori, watch their daughter, Novalie, swing in their backyard Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in Lakeland, Fla. Novalie was born through an embryo adoption. “God can use everything to His glory,” says Sam, 30. “There’s certainly an aspect that you consider with IVF: the ethics of freezing more embryos than you need. … But for families who struggle with infertility, it’s a beautiful opportunity.” (AP Photo/Mike Carlson)
Beth Stroud sheds a tear pondering what reinstatement would mean 20 years after she was defrocked from her job as a United Methodist pastor in Philadelphia, Sunday, May 12, 2024, at Turning Point United Methodist Church in Trenton, N.J. Delegates at a United Methodist conference recently struck down longstanding anti-LGBTQ bans and created a path for clergy ousted because of them to seek reinstatement. (AP Photo/Luis Andres Henao)
Beth Stroud sheds a tear pondering what reinstatement would mean 20 years after she was defrocked from her job as a United Methodist pastor in Philadelphia, Sunday, May 12, 2024, at Turning Point United Methodist Church in Trenton, N.J. Delegates at a United Methodist conference recently struck down longstanding anti-LGBTQ bans and created a path for clergy ousted because of them to seek reinstatement. (AP Photo/Luis Andres Henao)
Muslim pilgrims gather at the top of the rocky hill known as the Mountain of Mercy, on the Plain of Arafat, during the annual Hajj pilgrimage, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, June 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
Muslim pilgrims gather at the top of the rocky hill known as the Mountain of Mercy, on the Plain of Arafat, during the annual Hajj pilgrimage, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, June 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
A riverboat carrying the Eucharist cruises down the Ohio River between Wellsburg, West Virginia, and Brilliant, Ohio, Sunday, June 23, 2024. The voyage is part of a two-month series of cross-country pilgrimages focused on the Eucharist, seeking to raise devotion around a sacrament in which Catholics believe they encounter Jesus’ real presence. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
A riverboat carrying the Eucharist cruises down the Ohio River between Wellsburg, West Virginia, and Brilliant, Ohio, Sunday, June 23, 2024. The voyage is part of a two-month series of cross-country pilgrimages focused on the Eucharist, seeking to raise devotion around a sacrament in which Catholics believe they encounter Jesus’ real presence. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
Sister Mary Fatima Pham, second from right, kneels with her fellow Catholics as they watch the Eucharist brought on board a boat on the Ohio River at the Steubenville Marina in Steubenville, Ohio, Sunday, June 23, 2024. The National Eucharistic Pilgrimage will conclude at the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis in mid-July, the first held in more than 80 years. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
Sister Mary Fatima Pham, second from right, kneels with her fellow Catholics as they watch the Eucharist brought on board a boat on the Ohio River at the Steubenville Marina in Steubenville, Ohio, Sunday, June 23, 2024. The National Eucharistic Pilgrimage will conclude at the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis in mid-July, the first held in more than 80 years. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
A child is baptized in Lalish, the Yazidi’s most holy temple, in the Shekhan district of the Kurdistan region of Iraq, Monday, June 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Julia Zimmermann)
A child is baptized in Lalish, the Yazidi’s most holy temple, in the Shekhan district of the Kurdistan region of Iraq, Monday, June 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Julia Zimmermann)
Beatie Deutsch, an Orthodox Jewish runner, trains in Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, June 26, 2024. “I’d love governing bodies of sports to do more to accommodate religion,” said the 34-year-old mother of five. She qualified to represent Israel in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics but didn’t compete because the women’s marathon was scheduled for a Saturday, when she observes shabbat. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
Beatie Deutsch, an Orthodox Jewish runner, trains in Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, June 26, 2024. “I’d love governing bodies of sports to do more to accommodate religion,” said the 34-year-old mother of five. She qualified to represent Israel in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics but didn’t compete because the women’s marathon was scheduled for a Saturday, when she observes shabbat. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum sings during her last service at the Masonic Hall, Friday, June 28, 2024, in New York. After leading the nation’s largest LGBTQ+ synagogue through the myriad ups and downs of the modern gay-rights movement for the last three decades, she is now stepping down from that role and shifting into retirement. The synagogue that she led for 32 years — Congregation Beit Simchat Torah in midtown Manhattan — will have to grapple with its identity after being defined by its celebrity rabbi for so long. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)
Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum sings during her last service at the Masonic Hall, Friday, June 28, 2024, in New York. After leading the nation’s largest LGBTQ+ synagogue through the myriad ups and downs of the modern gay-rights movement for the last three decades, she is now stepping down from that role and shifting into retirement. The synagogue that she led for 32 years — Congregation Beit Simchat Torah in midtown Manhattan — will have to grapple with its identity after being defined by its celebrity rabbi for so long. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)
Josep-Maria Grosset, a student of the Vall d’en Bas School of Bell Ringers, performs playing two bronze bells at the church bell tower of the12th-century Sant Romà church, at the tiny village of Joanetes, about two hours north of Barcelona, Spain, Saturday, June 29, 2024. A school set up to revive the manual ringing of church bells has graduated its first class of 18 students after learning their ringing skills. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Josep-Maria Grosset, a student of the Vall d’en Bas School of Bell Ringers, performs playing two bronze bells at the church bell tower of the12th-century Sant Romà church, at the tiny village of Joanetes, about two hours north of Barcelona, Spain, Saturday, June 29, 2024. A school set up to revive the manual ringing of church bells has graduated its first class of 18 students after learning their ringing skills. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Bharti Kumari, second left, and Sonam, centre in green, weep as the body of their mother, Savitri Devi, 50, who died from a stampede at a religious festival, is carried for cremation in Ramnagar, in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
Bharti Kumari, second left, and Sonam, centre in green, weep as the body of their mother, Savitri Devi, 50, who died from a stampede at a religious festival, is carried for cremation in Ramnagar, in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
Flames rise from the cremation pyre of Savitri Devi, 50, who died from a stampede which occurred at a religious festival, in Ramnagar, in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
Flames rise from the cremation pyre of Savitri Devi, 50, who died from a stampede which occurred at a religious festival, in Ramnagar, in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
The Apache Christ painting hangs behind the altar of St. Joseph Apache Mission church in Mescalero, New Mexico, Saturday, July 13, 2024. The painting, an icon that depicts Christ as a Mescalero medicine man, was the forefront of a tension-filled episode between the community and the local Diocese when it was removed by the church’s then priest when the region was reeling from wildfires. (AP Photo/Andres Leighton)
The Apache Christ painting hangs behind the altar of St. Joseph Apache Mission church in Mescalero, New Mexico, Saturday, July 13, 2024. The painting, an icon that depicts Christ as a Mescalero medicine man, was the forefront of a tension-filled episode between the community and the local Diocese when it was removed by the church’s then priest when the region was reeling from wildfires. (AP Photo/Andres Leighton)
An Apache Crown Dancer whirls around the bonfire during a coming-of-age blessing ceremony for two young tribe women in Mescalero, New Mexico, Saturday, July 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Andres Leighton)
An Apache Crown Dancer whirls around the bonfire during a coming-of-age blessing ceremony for two young tribe women in Mescalero, New Mexico, Saturday, July 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Andres Leighton)
Light shines on a statue of Jesus in the chapel at the monastery of the Mount St. Scholastica Benedictine sisters in Atchison, Kan., Tuesday, July 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
Light shines on a statue of Jesus in the chapel at the monastery of the Mount St. Scholastica Benedictine sisters in Atchison, Kan., Tuesday, July 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
The Rev. Ron Blakely smiles on stage during the Sunday Gospel Hour that he leads at Robert’s Western World honky tonk on Sunday, July 28, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Luis Andres Henao)
The Rev. Ron Blakely smiles on stage during the Sunday Gospel Hour that he leads at Robert’s Western World honky tonk on Sunday, July 28, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Luis Andres Henao)
Daniel Wabuyi looks up during his traditional circumcision ritual, known as Imbalu, in Kamu village, Mbale, eastern Uganda, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Hajarah Nalwadda)
Daniel Wabuyi looks up during his traditional circumcision ritual, known as Imbalu, in Kamu village, Mbale, eastern Uganda, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Hajarah Nalwadda)
Marielle Louw, raised hands, and Andries Louw, missionaries from South Africa, pray during a worship service at Surf Church in Matosinhos beach in the suburbs of Porto, Portugal on Sunday, Aug. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Luis Andres Henao)
Marielle Louw, raised hands, and Andries Louw, missionaries from South Africa, pray during a worship service at Surf Church in Matosinhos beach in the suburbs of Porto, Portugal on Sunday, Aug. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Luis Andres Henao)
Seminarians leave after morning Mass at Ritapiret Major Seminary in Maumere, East NusaTenggara province, Indonesia, Friday, Aug. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)
Seminarians leave after morning Mass at Ritapiret Major Seminary in Maumere, East NusaTenggara province, Indonesia, Friday, Aug. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)
A woman who escaped the Good News International Church in Shakahola after she said she was sexually assaulted, enters a house in the coastal city of Malindi, in southern Kenya, on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
A woman who escaped the Good News International Church in Shakahola after she said she was sexually assaulted, enters a house in the coastal city of Malindi, in southern Kenya, on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
Farmer and Presbyterian pastor Lee Scott pets one of the cows on his family farm, Laurel Oak Farm, in Butler, Pa., on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
Farmer and Presbyterian pastor Lee Scott pets one of the cows on his family farm, Laurel Oak Farm, in Butler, Pa., on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
A traditional dancer waits for the arrival of Pope Francis at Caritas Technical Secondary School in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
A traditional dancer waits for the arrival of Pope Francis at Caritas Technical Secondary School in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
People greet Pope Francis as he travels in a car on way to another venue in Dili, East Timor, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)
People greet Pope Francis as he travels in a car on way to another venue in Dili, East Timor, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)
Phara Pierre, right, and her daughter attend Mass at St Raphael Catholic church in Springfield, Ohio, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
Phara Pierre, right, and her daughter attend Mass at St Raphael Catholic church in Springfield, Ohio, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
Faithful hold up their helmets to be blessed during the IX Pilgrimage of the Blessing of Helmets that draws tens of thousands at the Roman Catholic holy shrine of Fatima, in Fatima, Portugal, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Ana Brigida)
Faithful hold up their helmets to be blessed during the IX Pilgrimage of the Blessing of Helmets that draws tens of thousands at the Roman Catholic holy shrine of Fatima, in Fatima, Portugal, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Ana Brigida)
Brother Luke, an Orthodox Christian monk, holds his 10-week-old German shepherd Pyrena on the grounds of the New Skete monastery, where he directs the dog breeding program that has provided both financial and spiritual support to the community for decades outside Cambridge, N.Y., on Oct. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Giovanna Dell’Orto)
Brother Luke, an Orthodox Christian monk, holds his 10-week-old German shepherd Pyrena on the grounds of the New Skete monastery, where he directs the dog breeding program that has provided both financial and spiritual support to the community for decades outside Cambridge, N.Y., on Oct. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Giovanna Dell’Orto)
Mintamir Endanew, left, and other members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church pray after a post-liturgy lunch of pancake-like injera bread on Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024, in Worthington, Minn. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
Mintamir Endanew, left, and other members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church pray after a post-liturgy lunch of pancake-like injera bread on Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024, in Worthington, Minn. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
Indian army soldiers dance to celebrate Diwali near the Line of Control that divides Kashmir region between India and Pakistan, in Akhnoor sector, about 66 kilometers (41 miles) from Jammu, India, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Channi Anand)
Indian army soldiers dance to celebrate Diwali near the Line of Control that divides Kashmir region between India and Pakistan, in Akhnoor sector, about 66 kilometers (41 miles) from Jammu, India, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Channi Anand)
A record 2.51 million earthen oil lamps are lit along the Saryu river during Deepotsav celebrations on the eve of Diwali, creating a new Guinness World Record, in Ayodhya, India, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
A record 2.51 million earthen oil lamps are lit along the Saryu river during Deepotsav celebrations on the eve of Diwali, creating a new Guinness World Record, in Ayodhya, India, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
Members of the Amish community, Samuel Stoltzfus and his wife Lillian Stoltzfus, vote at a polling center at the Garden Spot Village retirement community in New Holland, Pa., Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Luis Andres Henao)
Members of the Amish community, Samuel Stoltzfus and his wife Lillian Stoltzfus, vote at a polling center at the Garden Spot Village retirement community in New Holland, Pa., Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Luis Andres Henao)
U.S.-born Buddhist lama, Jalue Dorje, right, and a member of the Minnesota Tibetan community bow and touch foreheads in a traditional Tibetan greeting at his 18th birthday and enthronement ceremony in Isanti, Minn., on Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Luis Andres Henao)
U.S.-born Buddhist lama, Jalue Dorje, right, and a member of the Minnesota Tibetan community bow and touch foreheads in a traditional Tibetan greeting at his 18th birthday and enthronement ceremony in Isanti, Minn., on Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Luis Andres Henao)
Attendants listen under the rain as a rabbi delivers an eulogy during a ceremony prior to the funeral of Israeli-Moldovan rabbi Zvi Kogan in Kfar Chabad, Israel, Monday Nov. 25, 2024. Kogan, 28, an ultra-Orthodox rabbi, was killed last week in Dubai where he ran a kosher grocery store. Israelis have flocked for commerce and tourism since the two countries forged diplomatic ties in the 2020 Abraham Accords.(AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Attendants listen under the rain as a rabbi delivers an eulogy during a ceremony prior to the funeral of Israeli-Moldovan rabbi Zvi Kogan in Kfar Chabad, Israel, Monday Nov. 25, 2024. Kogan, 28, an ultra-Orthodox rabbi, was killed last week in Dubai where he ran a kosher grocery store. Israelis have flocked for commerce and tourism since the two countries forged diplomatic ties in the 2020 Abraham Accords.(AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
People walk past as France’s iconic Notre Dame Cathedral is reflected in a puddle Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024 in Paris before the formal reopening for the first time since a devastating fire nearly destroyed the 861-year-old landmark in 2019. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
People walk past as France’s iconic Notre Dame Cathedral is reflected in a puddle Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024 in Paris before the formal reopening for the first time since a devastating fire nearly destroyed the 861-year-old landmark in 2019. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Fittingly, in photographs depicting aspects of faith, it’s often the light that is most riveting.
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An Apache dancer whirling around a bonfire during a coming-of-age ceremony in New Mexico. The towers of Notre Dame Cathedral illuminated against the twilight sky ahead of its reopening five years after a devastating fire. A vast display of earthen oil lamps glowing alongside India’s Saryu River on the eve of Diwali.
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Photographs are an essential aspect of how The Associated Press covers religion and spirituality around the world, as evidenced by this gallery featuring some of 2024’s most compelling images.
Our photographers were with Pope Francis in East Timor and New Guinea, on the longest trip of his papacy. One of them trekked to a village in Uganda for a traditional circumcision ceremony. Another was in Fatima, Portugal, as thousands of motorcyclist pilgrims held up their helmets to be blessed. Two of them joined hundreds of Tibetan Buddhists in Minnesota celebrating the 18th birthday of a U.S- born lama before he heads off to a Himalayan monastery.
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Joy and sorrow
For the faithful around the world, joy — by tradition — is often shared collectively, as our photos illustrate.
In a Cairo neighborhood, Muslims light flares as they celebrate Iftar, the meal that ends their daily fast during the holy month of Ramadan. Indian army soldiers, dancing in their camouflage uniforms, celebrate Diwali near the Line of Control that divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan. In Haiti, a dove takes flight as throngs of people attend a celebration of St. George, a Christian martyr revered by both Catholics and practitioners of Vodou.
In Lakeland, Florida, a more intimate joy is palpable as Sam and Tori Earle watch their infant daughter, Novalie, swing in their backyard. Novalie was born through an embryo adoption; the Earles credit God for providing such as option to families struggling with infertility.
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Another mesmerizing image of parental love: A child is baptized in Lalish, holiest temple of the Yazidi people, 10 years after an onslaught by the Islamic State group led to the killings, abductions and displacement of thousands of Yazidis.
Sometimes faithfulness leads to sorrow, as several images reveal.
In the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, women weep as the body of their mother, who died from a stampede at a religious festival, is carried for cremation. Another haunting photo shows the flames rising from the cremation pyre.
In the Kenyan town of Malindi, a woman whose religious sect was targeted with horrific mass killings orchestrated by its leader, retreats into a thatched house after disclosing her ordeal.
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Devotion and prayer
And in Israel, mourners listen in the rain as a rabbi delivers a eulogy for Zvi Kogan, an ultra-Orthodox rabbi killed in Dubai, where he ran a kosher grocery store.
Several of the photos vividly depict the depths of religious devotion — and the myriad forms it takes.
In Pakistan, Hindu pilgrims climb a steep path to reach the top of a mud volcano during a festival at one of their faith’s holiest sites. During the annual Hajj, Muslim pilgrims gather atop a rocky hill known as the Mountain of Mercy, near the holy city of Mecca.
On Good Friday, in the Old City of Jerusalem, Ethiopian Orthodox Christians — one of them bearing a large cross glinting in the sun — walk the Way of the Cross that commemorates Christ’s crucifixion.
In Havana, Gloria Esperanza Reyes makes her monthly offering to Yemaya, the Yoruba goddess of the sea, by tossing flowers and sugarcane syrup into the waves.
A different form of devotion was on display at a campaign rally for Donald Trump in Vandalia, Ohio, as evidenced by the hats for sale reading, “Jesus is my savior, Trump is my president.”
Prayer is a practice shared by many faiths, in a limitless array of settings. We see youthful surfers praying during a service at the Surf Church, close to a beach near Porto, Portugal. We see a Muslim woman with her prayer beads near the Dome of the Rock mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City. And two boys praying at recess in the mosque of their private Muslim school in Marseille, France.
In Haiti, we see Vodou pilgrims praying earnestly at a Mass amid the pervasive violence in their country.
In the U.S. heartland, we see Ethiopian Orthodox women at prayer in Worthington, Minnesota, and a mix of Catholic nuns and laypeople praying beside the Ohio River in Steubenville, Ohio, during the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage.
LGBTQ+
inclusion
While some major religions continue to view homosexual behavior as sinful, our gallery includes some eye-catching depictions of inclusion — LGBTQ-friendly services at a synagogue in New York and Christian church in Cuba; a Black pastor in Massachusetts embraced by his congregation after he summoned the nerve to disclose that he is gay; a tearful woman in New Jersey on the verge of being reinstated as a United Methodist pastor, 20 years after she was defrocked due to a now-repealed LGBTQ ban.
Music City and monastery dogs
To close, we’ll highlight a few of the change-of-pace photos that enliven this gallery, including two from Nashville, Tennessee. It’s renowned for its country-music scene and boisterous bars along Broadway, but it’s also a place of deep faith.
At The Cove, a Christian nightclub with a no-alcohol rule, youthful patrons jubilantly raise their arms in worship. At Robert’s Western World, the Rev. Ron Blakely — sporting a cowboy hat and a wide grin — leads the Broadway honky tonk ’s Sunday Gospel Hour.
A different kind of music rings out in a Spanish village as Josep-Maria Grosset, a student at a bell ringer school performs at the bell tower of a 12th-century church. The school, seeking to revive the manual ringing of church bells, has graduated its first class of 18 students.
And our photographers were mindful of a hymn writer’s memorable phrase, “All creatures great and small.”
At monasteries half-way round the world from each other, a Buddhist monk in Bhutan and an Orthodox Christian monk in New York state display their love of dogs. Not to be outdone, Presbyterian pastor Lee Scott pets one of the cows on his family farm in Pennsylvania.
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AP photo editor Patrick Sison curated this photo gallery,
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Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.