Photos of the Week

This week’s gallery includes the start of Ramadan, a centuries-old ploughing ceremony in Thailand, and more.

The Dome of the Rock shrine reflects in a pilgrim’s sunglasses during the first Ramadan Friday prayers, in Jerusalem, on May 10, 2019. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

(RNS) — Each week Religion News Service presents a gallery of photos of religious expression around the world. This week’s gallery includes the start of Ramadan, a centuries-old ploughing ceremony in Thailand, and more.

The Dome of the Rock shrine is reflected in a pilgrim’s sunglasses during the first Ramadan Friday prayers, in Jerusalem, on May 10, 2019. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)


A pilgrim carries a flower offering as she makes her way to an altar at the Iztaccíhuatl volcano, known as the Sleeping Woman, as part of the Day of the Cross celebrations, near Santiago Xalitzintla, Mexico, on May 3, 2019. Pilgrims celebrate both Tonantzin, the Aztec mother earth goddess, and the Virgin Mary over two days in early May. They leave offerings on an altar at the base of the volcano, asking for a good harvest and as gratitude for past harvests. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

Oxen are guided by attendants during the royal ploughing ceremony in Bangkok, Thailand, on May 9, 2019. The annual event marks the beginning of Thailand’s rice growing season. Thailand formerly hosted separate Hindu and Buddhist ceremonies, but the two were merged roughly 160 years ago, with the Buddhist rite conducted in the Grand Palace first , followed by the Hindu one held at Sanam Luang, Bangkok.(AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Palestinians climb the Israeli separation barrier on their way to attend the first Friday prayers in Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa mosque during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, in the village of al Ram, on May 10, 2019. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

A Swiss Guard recruit, second form left, takes an oath during a ceremony at the Vatican, on May 6, 2019. The ceremony is held each May 6 to commemorate the day in 1527 when 147 Swiss Guards died protecting Pope Clement VII during the Sack of Rome. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Kashmiri Muslims offer prayers during the fasting month of Ramadan inside a shrine in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, on May 7, 2019. Muslims across the world are observing the holy fasting month of Ramadan, where they refrain from eating, drinking and smoking from dawn to dusk. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)

Pakistani fishermen pray before breaking their fast during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, in Karachi, Pakistan, on May 9, 2019. Muslims around the world are observing Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)

In a Shinto ritual, Japan’s new Emperor Naruhito, left, processes to the Imperial Sanctuaries to report to the imperial ancestors the dates of his enthronement and Great Thanksgiving Ceremony, at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, Japan on May 8, 2019. (Imperial Household Agency of Japan via AP)


A blind woman reads the Quran, Islam’s holy book, written in braille during a recital class in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia, on May 9, 2019. Muslims across the world are observing the holy fasting month of Ramadan. (AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara)

A cleric looks through binoculars to sight the new moon that signals the start of the Islamic holy fasting month of Ramadan, at the shrine of the Shiite Saint Imam Abdulazim in Shahr-e-Ray, south of Tehran, Iran, on May 5, 2019. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

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