(RNS) - Each week Religion News Service presents a gallery of photos of religious expression around the world. This week’s photo gallery includes Diwali celebrations, Day of the Dead commemorations and more.
Relatives spend the night next to the tombs of their loved ones during Day of the Dead commemorations at the the Arocutin cemetery in Michoacan state, Mexico, Monday, Nov. 1, 2021. In a tradition that coincides with All Saints Day and All Souls Day, families decorate the graves of departed relatives with flowers and candles, and spend the night in the cemetery, eating and drinking as they keep company with their deceased loved ones. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)
People help lift a giant kite to be displayed on All Saints Day as part of Day of the Dead celebrations in Santiago Sacatepequez, Guatemala, Monday, Nov. 1, 2021. For the second year the celebration has been reduced amid some restrictions to help curb the spread of COVID-19. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
A person touches a monument to Baron Samedi and Gede during a ceremony honoring the Haitian Vodou spirit at the National Cemetery in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday, Nov. 1, 2021. Followers of Vodou are marking the Fete Gede celebration of the spirits, equivalent to the Roman Catholic festivity of the Day of the Dead and All Saints Day. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew leads the official door-opening ceremony of lower Manhattan's St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church on Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2021. The old St. Nicholas church was the only house of worship destroyed during the 9/11 attacks when it was crushed beneath the falling south tower. The spiritual leader of Eastern Orthodox Christians was recovering in a New York hospital Thursday, Nov. 4, 2021, a day after a medical procedure delayed his return home to Turkey at the end of a U.S. visit. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)
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People light earthen lamps on the banks of the Saryu River in Ayodhya, India, Nov. 3, 2021. Over 900,000 earthen lamps were lit and were kept burning for 45 minutes as the north Indian city of Ayodhya retained its Guinness World Record for lighting oil lamps as part of the Diwali celebration — the Hindu festival of lights. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
Hindu devotees climb colored stairs to pray at the Batu Caves temple during the Hindu festival of lights, Diwali, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Thursday, Nov. 4, 2021. Diwali is one of Hinduism's most important festivals. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)
An ethnic Tamil woman prays holding a tray of oil lamps during Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Thursday, Nov. 4, 2021. Diwali is one of Hinduism's most important festivals. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
In this photo released by the Chin Human Rights Organization, fires burn in the town of Thantlang in Myanmar's northwestern state of Chin, on Friday Oct. 29, 2021. More than 160 buildings in the town in northwestern Myanmar, including three churches, have been destroyed by fire caused by shelling by government troops, local media and activists reported Saturday. (Chin Human Rights Organization via AP)
Archival Photos
A crowd forms to view a new hospital after dedication ceremonies November 2, 1955, in Quito, Ecuador. Evangelist Harry Rimmer launched the hospital project after seeing the lack of medical facilities available while on a preaching mission. The hospital was called "VozAndes," or Voice of the Andes, after a gospel radio station in the area. RNS archive photo by Dan L. Thrapp. Photo courtesy of Presbyterian Historical Society.
A general view of a Protestant Reformation service with 9,000 people in attendance, sponsored by some 400 St. Louis churches, on November 8, 1948, at Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis, Missouri. RNS archive photo by Paul Hodges. Photo courtesy of Presbyterian Historical Society.
