Photos of the Week

This week’s selection includes Buddhists commemorating Vesak, the National Day of Prayer and more.

(RNS) — Each week Religion News Service presents a gallery of photos of religious expression around the world. This week’s selection includes Buddhists commemorating Vesak, the National Day of Prayer and more.

Nepalese workers climb up the Boudhanath Stupa carrying colored water to splash on its tower to celebrate Buddha Jayanti festival, or Vesak, during lockdown in Kathmandu, Nepal, Thursday, May 7, 2020. As the stupa is closed to the public, only a few Buddhists monks participated in the day that marks the triple events of Gautam Buddha’s life: his birth, his enlightenment and his attaining a state of Nirvana that frees believers from the circle of death and rebirth. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)


A Sri Lankan Buddhist monk climbs climbs past statues at a deserted temple during curfew on Buddha Jayanthi, or Vesak, a day that celebrates the birth, enlightenment and death of the Buddha, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Thursday, May 7, 2020. Sri Lanka has again reimposed a 24-hour, countrywide curfew until next Monday, as part of stringent measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Buddhists, wearing faces masks and distanced to help protect against the spread of the coronavirus, pray during a service to overcome the COVID-19 outbreak and to celebrate Buddha’s birthday at the Chogyesa temple in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, April 30, 2020. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Monks pray on Vesak, or Buddha Day, at the Maha Vihara temple in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on May 7, 2020. RNS photo by Alexandra Radu

The Little Singers of Paris perform for Vice President Richard M. Nixon during a visit to his capitol office on Oct. 25, 1955. Directing them is the Rev. Fernand Mallet, right, founder of the International Federation of Little Singers. The famous French choir was in Washington, D.C., for a series of three concerts, part of its nationwide tour. RNS archive photo by Al Muto. Photo courtesy of the Presbyterian Historical Society

A camera’s lens flare encircles President Donald Trump as he bows his head in prayer during a White House National Day of Prayer Service in the Rose Garden of the White House, Thursday, May 7, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Donald Trump, right, and socially distanced attendees listen as Sister Eneyda Martinez, with Poor Sisters of St. Joseph, at left podium, speaks during a White House National Day of Prayer Service in the Rose Garden of the White House, Thursday, May 7, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Donald Trump stands with first lady Melania Trump as White House spiritual adviser Paula White, left foreground, raises her hands in praise during a White House National Day of Prayer Service in the Rose Garden of the White House, Thursday, May 7, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)


A police officer talks to a man meditating in a beach reopened for sport activities in Barcelona, Spain, Friday, May 8, 2020. In last minute negotiations, Spain’s government secured enough parliamentary support to extend the country’s state of emergency. Spain has recorded over 25,600 deaths from the new coronavirus. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Men pray in a chapel carved from salt located deep in the Wieliczka Salt Mine, near Kraków, Poland, circa 1948. The men praying before the altar are miners who carry their tiny lamps with them wherever they go below the surface. The Wieliczka salt mine produced salt from the 13th century until 2007. It is now an official Polish Historic Monument and open for tours. RNS archive photo. Photo courtesy of the Presbyterian Historical Society

A priest walks along a line of chairs spaced for social distancing at the Santa Maria in Trastevere Church in Rome, Friday, May 8, 2020. Priests will be required to wear protective masks and gloves while giving communion and be careful not to touch the hands of the faithful when public Masses resume in Italy on May 18, as the country slowly eases some lockdown measures. Avvenire, the daily newspaper of the Italian Catholic Bishops Conference, provided details of an accord that Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte reached with church officials to allow the faithful to return to Mass during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Cecilia Fabiano/LaPresse via AP)

Priests celebrate a televised Mass in front of empty benches, Friday, May 8, 2020, in Lourdes, southwestern France. The COVID-19 pandemic emptied out churches and also forced the cancellation of the Lourdes pilgrimage. France’s Lourdes Roman Catholic basilica closed its doors on March 17, 2020, for the first time in its history. (AP Photo/Bob Edme)

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