Photos of the Week

This week’s gallery includes Epiphany, Orthodox Christmas, and more.

Villagers compete in an Epiphany celebration horse race in Pietrosani, Romania, on Jan. 6, 2019. The horse race tradition started in the area more then one hundred years ago, according to locals, and it was banned during the years of Communist rule, due to its association with a religious holiday. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

(RNS) — Each week Religion News Service presents a gallery of photos of religious expression around the world. This week’s gallery includes Epiphany, Orthodox Christmas, and more.

Riders compete in an Epiphany celebration horse race in Pietrosani, Romania, on Jan. 6, 2019. The tradition started more than 100 years ago, according to locals, but was banned during the years of Communist rule, due to its association with the religious holiday. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)


Three women participate in a “Cabalgata de Reyes,” an Epiphany parade in Madrid, Spain, on Jan. 5, 2019. Spain traditionally has colorful parades to celebrate Epiphany, when Christians observe the visit of the Three Wise Men to the infant Jesus. (AP Photo/Paul White)

An Orthodox cleric walks by sacks filled with holy water containers during a religious service in the Black Sea port of Constanta, Romania, on Jan. 5, 2019, a day ahead the celebration of Epiphany. More than 200,000 bottles were filled with holy water as Orthodox Romanians prepared to celebrate Epiphany on Jan. 6. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Roman Catholic devotees jostle to kiss and touch the statue of the Black Nazarene in a raucous procession to celebrate its feast day on Jan. 9, 2019, in Manila, Philippines. Tens of thousands of mostly barefoot Catholics join the annual procession of a centuries-old statue of Jesus Christ to celebrate the Feast of the Black Nazarene, which usually ends before dawn the next day. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

Cardinal Philippe Barbarin waits for the start of his trial at the Lyon courthouse, in central France, on Jan. 7, 2019. Cardinal Barbarin and five others are accused of covering up for a pedophile priest who abused Boy Scouts. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)

Lithuanian Orthodox believers light candles during the liturgy on Orthodox Christmas Eve in the Prechistensky, the Cathedral Palace in Vilnius, Lithuania, on Jan. 6, 2019. Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas on Jan. 7, in accordance with the Julian calendar. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)

German chancellor Angela Merkel, front right, sings with carolers during an Epiphany reception at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, on Jan. 7, 2019. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)

A Greek Orthodox priest walks on a snow-covered road at the Penteli Monastery in northern Athens, Greece, on Jan. 8, 2019. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)


People take pictures as workers move the Adas Israel Synagogue, the oldest synagogue in Washington, to a new location on Jan. 9, 2019, in Washington, D.C. The relocated synagogue will be part of the new Capital Jewish Museum. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

The Philippine Coast Guard keep watch as Filipino Roman Catholic devotees cross a bridge during the raucous procession of the Black Nazarene on Jan. 9, 2019, in Manila, Philippines. Tens of thousands of mostly barefoot Filipino Catholics join the annual procession of a centuries-old statue of Jesus Christ to celebrate the Feast of the Black Nazarene. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, right, officiates the Christmas Mass in the Christ the Saviour Cathedral in Moscow, Russia, on Jan. 6, 2019. Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas on Jan. 7, in accordance with the Julian calendar. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, center left, and Metropolitan Epiphanius, the head of the independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church, center, bestow a blessing on men during the Epiphany ceremony in Istanbul, Turkey, on Jan. 6, 2019. That day Bartholomew presented a decree of independence to Epiphanius formally severing the nascent Orthodox Church of Ukraine from the Russian Orthodox Church. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

Pope Francis is framed by cellphones as he arrives for his weekly general audience, in the Pope Paul VI hall, at the Vatican on Jan. 9, 2019. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Members of the Afro-Paraguayan cultural group Kamba Cua carry torches during a procession in honor of Saint Balthazar, one of the Three Kings, on Epiphany in Fernando de la Mora, Paraguay, late Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019. The annual procession is a tradition that helps keep the community connected with their African roots through ancestral dance, drumming and customs, since their ancestors’ first arrival in 1820. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)


Polar swimmers take part in their traditional Three Kings swim in the Vltava River in Prague, Czech Republic, on Jan. 6, 2019. The Prague Castle is in the background. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

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