Photos of the Week: 12/08 – 12/15

This week's picks for our weekly gallery of religion photos from around the world.

A woman passes by a menorah on Independence Mall in Philadelphia ahead of the second night of Hanukkah, Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2017. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

(RNS) — Each week Religion News Service presents a gallery of photos of religious practice around the world. This week’s includes images from an oceanarium in Manila, Philippines; a Christmas tree in Lithuania; the Yonghegong Lama Temple in Beijing, China; the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico; the Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Australia; the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama; the former royal palace in Bucharest, Romania; morning prayers in Bhaktapur, Nepal; a procession to celebrate the Virgin Mary in Port-au-Prince, Haiti; the third eve of Hanukkah at the Western Wall, the holiest site in Jerusalem’s Old City — and more.

A woman passes by a menorah on Independence Mall in Philadelphia ahead of the second night of Hanukkah, Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2017. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

A diver dressed in a Santa costume feeds grouper, stingrays, sharks and other fish at the Manila Ocean Park, the country’s largest oceanarium, Friday, Dec. 15, 2017 in Manila, Philippines. With a few days left before Christmas, various malls and other business establishments come up with their own way of attracting patrons such as bazaars, Christmas displays and even free concerts. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)


In this Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2017, file photo, a Muslim man cries during a rally near U.S. Embassy to protest U.S. President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, in Manila, Philippines. The protesters insisted that Jerusalem is the capital of Palestine and demanded Trump to recall his statement. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez, File)

Visitors takes pictures in front of the illuminated Christmas tree in the Old City in Kaunas, Lithuania, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2017. Kaunas is the second largest city in Lithuania. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)

A woman spins a prayer wheel while standing near smoke from burning incense at the Yonghegong Lama Temple in Beijing, Friday, Dec. 8, 2017. The temple complex, which dates from the Qing Dynasty, is one of the largest centers of Tibetan Buddhism in China’s capital. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

A member of Danza Azteca blows on a conch in the Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle Catholic Church, as members celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Sunday, Dec. 10, 2017, in Jackson, Miss. Although the actual anniversary is Tuesday, Dec. 12, some Catholic churches celebrated the feast on the weekend. The Virgin of Guadalupe, also known as La Morenita, is Mexico’s patron saint. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

A giraffe named Nyota reaches for apples and fresh leaves while enjoying special Christmas treats at Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Thursday, Dec. 14, 2017. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

Participants are seen after the ignition of the first light the first lantern on a menorah at the Nyugati square in Budapest, Hungary, during the first day celebration of the eight-day Jewish holiday of Hanukkah on Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2017. (Tibor Illyes/MTI via AP)

A cross with an image of Jesus Christ, front, center, stands with an image of Virgin Mary during a procession to celebrate the Virgin Mary in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Friday Dec. 8, 2017. ( AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery)

Jeremiah Chapman, prays during a 16th Street Baptist church service, Sunday, Dec. 10, 2017, in Birmingham, Ala. At the church pastor Arthur Price told the mostly black congregation that Alabama’s U.S. Senate election is too important to skip. “There’s too much at stake for us to stay home,” Price said of Tuesday’s election. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

A boy in a devil costume sits on a float before a parade, symbolizing the fight between good and evil, on the feast day of the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception in Ciudad Vieja, Guatemala, Thursday Dec. 7, 2017. The patron day of the Old City marks the start of the Christmas season in Guatemala. (AP Photo/Luis Soto)

Tourists walk past the Millennium Park Christmas tree in a timed exposure with a zoom lens Thursday, Dec. 14, 2017, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

The royal crown is placed on the coffin of late Romanian King Michael, at the former royal palace, in Bucharest, Romania, Friday, Dec. 15, 2017. Thousands waited in line to pay their respects to Former King Michael, who ruled Romania during WWII, and died on Dec. 5, 2017, aged 96, in Switzerland. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

A woman offers a morning prayers in Bhaktapur, Nepal, Friday, Dec. 15, 2017. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

An ultra Orthodox Jewish man poses for a picture near a a large Hanukiah, a Jewish candle holder traditionally used during the Hanukkah holiday, on the third eve of Hanukkah at the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray in Jerusalem’s Old City, Thursday, Dec. 14, 2017. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)

In this photo provided by the Santa Barbara County Fire Department, with flames burning behind it, a Christmas tree stands as a lone sentinel in the front yard of an evacuated home in Carpinteria, Calif., Monday, Dec. 11, 2017. Ash fell like snow and heavy smoke had residents gasping for air Monday as a wildfire exploded in size, becoming the fifth largest in state history. (Mike Eliason/Santa Barbara County Fire Department via AP)

People dressed in Santa Claus costumes take part in a morning run in Madrid, Sunday, Dec. 10, 2017. Thousands of people ran in the annual Santa race through the streets of the Spanish capital. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

In this Thursday, Dec. 14, 2017, file photo, a Nepalese worker takes a rest while working on the construction site of Bajrayogini Hindu temple which was damaged in the 2015 earthquake in Sankhu, Kathmandu, Nepal. Several temples and heritage monuments across the country were damaged in the 2015 Nepal earthquake. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha, File)

A boy looks out of a small retro train running on a loop on a loop on the Christmas market in Frankfurt, Germany, Thursday, Dec. 14, 2017. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

Donate to Support Independent Journalism!

Donate Now!