Photos of the Week: Orthodox Christmas, Epiphany

By Kit Doyle · January 7, 2022

(RNS) - Each week Religion News Service presents a gallery of photos of religious expression around the world. This first selection of 2022 includes Orthodox Christmas, Epiphany and more.

Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill delivers the Christmas Liturgy in Christ the Saviour Cathedral in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022. Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas on Jan. 7, in accordance with the Julian calendar. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

Members of the Palestinian Greek Orthodox community pray during Christmas Eve Mass at St. Porphyrios Church in Gaza City, Friday, Jan. 7, 2022. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Bishop Dawod Makram wears a face mask to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus as he leads the Coptic Orthodox midnight Mass on Orthodox Christmas Eve at the Church of St. George in Cairo, Egypt, late Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022. Copts celebrate Christmas according to the Julian calendar, meaning it falls on Jan. 7. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

The image of suspected militant Arif Sunarso, better known as Zulkarnaen, appears via video link during his trial hearing at East Jakarta District Court in Jakarta, Indonesia, Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2022. Indonesian prosecutors demanded a life sentence for the terror suspect, accused of masterminding a series of deadly attacks in the world's most populous Muslim nation. (AP Photo)

An Indian Sikh displays traditional martial art skills during a religious procession to celebrate the birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh in Jammu, India, Monday, Jan. 3, 2022. The birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Sikh guru, is Jan. 5. (AP Photo/Channi Anand)

A man shows off riding skills during Epiphany celebrations in the village of Pietrosani, Romania, Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022. According to local Epiphany traditions, villagers' horses are blessed with holy water before competing in a race.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Pope Francis kisses a statue of baby Jesus as he celebrates an Epiphany Mass in St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Pilgrims jump to catch the cross during a ceremony marking Epiphany at Piraeus port, near Athens, Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022. Celebrations to mark the Christian holiday of Epiphany were canceled or scaled back in many parts of Greece this year as the country struggles with a large surge in COVID-19 infections driven by the omicron variant. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

People parade through the streets as part of celebrations of Three Kings Day in Vilnius, Lithuania, Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022. Epiphany, the 12th night of Christmas, marks the day the three wise men visited Christ. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)

Boys watch clowns dance during Three Kings Day celebrations in the Morro da Formiga slum of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022. Epiphany, celebrated annually on Jan. 6, marks the biblical journey of the Three Kings: Gaspar, Melchior and Balthasar, to visit baby Jesus. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, standing with members of Congress, speaks during a prayer vigil on the east steps of Capitol Hill in Washington, Jan. 6, 2022, to mark the one-year anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol by supporters loyal to then-President Donald Trump. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Reader Photos

Candles illuminate the Christmas Eve service at Cathedral of the Rockies First United Methodist Church in Boise, Idaho, on Dec. 24, 2021. Photo by Duane Anders

Archival Photos

A children's choir rehearses at Franciscan Mission in the Detroit area, circa 1948. RNS archive photo. Photo courtesy of the Presbyterian Historical Society.

Seven of the eight defendants in an alleged plot to kidnap presidential adviser Henry Kissinger and attack federal buildings outside federal court in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in 1971. Left to right are: The Rev. Joseph Wenderoth of Baltimore; Eqbal Ahmad of Chicago, the Rev. Neil McLaughlin of Baltimore; John T. Glick of Lancaster, Pa.; Anthony Scoblick, and Sr. Elizabeth McAlister. At center is Mary Cain Scoblick, a former nun from Baltimore who is married to Mr. Scoblick. The eighth defendant, the Rev. Philip Berrigan, is in federal prison. RNS archive photo. Photo courtesy of the Presbyterian Historical Society.

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