Photos of the Week: Eid al-Adha preparations; Italian drought

By Jessi Dodge · July 1, 2022

(RNS) — Each week Religion News Service presents a gallery of photos of religious expression around the world. This week’s photo gallery includes Eid al-Adha preparations, prayers to end drought and more. Devotees participate in an annual Rath Yatra, or chariot procession of Lord Jagannath, in Ahmedabad, India, Friday, July 1, 2022. Three idols of Hindu God Jagannath, his brother Balabhadra and sister Subhadra are taken out in a grand procession in specially made chariots called raths, which are pulled by thousands of devotees. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki) An artisan prepares eco-friendly idols of the elephant-headed Hindu god Ganesha for the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Hyderabad, India, Saturday, June 25, 2022. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.) Soldiers stand guard as Hindu devotees begin the annual Amarnath Yatra pilgrimage to an icy Himalayan cave, in Chandanwari, Pahalgam, south of Srinagar, Indian-controlled Kashmir, Thursday, June 30, 2022. Officials say pilgrims face heightened threat of attacks from rebels fighting Indian rule and have for the first time tagged devotees with a wireless tracking system. They also have deployed drones for surveillance. (AP Photo) Vendors unload a cow at a market set up for the upcoming Muslim Eid al-Adha or Feast of Sacrifice holiday, in Karachi, Pakistan, Thursday, June 30, 2022. Eid al-Adha, the most important Islamic holiday, marks the willingness of the Prophet Ibrahim, Abraham to Christians and Jews, to sacrifice his son. During the holiday, Muslims slaughter sheep or cattle, distributing part of the meat to the poor. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan) Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller prays during a multifaith memorial Mass and prayer vigil at San Fernando Cathedral to honor the victims and survivors of the recent human smuggling tragedy, Thursday, June 30, 2022, in San Antonio. More than 50 people died in Monday's human-smuggling attempt. Monday. (AP Photo/Eric Gay) Paola Martinez stands with her family as she holds a Virgin Mary statue during a multifaith memorial Mass and prayer vigil at San Fernando Cathedral to honor the victims and survivors of the recent human smuggling tragedy, Thursday, June 30, 2022, in San Antonio. More than 50 people died in Monday's smuggling attempt. (AP Photo/Eric Gay) Women hold a portrait of Jesuit priest Javier Campos Morales as his funeral procession and that of fellow priest Joaquin Cesar Mora Salazar arrives to Cerocahui, Chihuahua state, Mexico, Sunday, June 26, 2022. The two elderly priests and a tour guide murdered in Mexico's Sierra Tarahumara this week are the latest in a long line of activists, reporters, travelers and local residents who have been threatened or killed by criminal gangs that dominate the region. (AP Photo/Christian Chavez) Archbishop Mario Delpini blesses a field with holy water in front of the San Martino Olearo in Mediglia, northern Italy, Saturday, June 25, 2022. Delpini made a pilgrimage to pray for "the gift of rain," visiting three churches near Milan that serve the farming community. The mayor of Milan signed an ordinance Saturday turning off public decorative fountains and limiting water sprinklers in Italy's business capital as northern Italy endures one of the worst droughts in decades. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno) Pope Francis holds the crucifix as he celebrates a Mass on the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Wednesday, June 29, 2022. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino) Sikh pilgrims arrive to attend a ritual at a temple in Lahore, Pakistan, Wednesday, June 29, 2022. Hundreds of Sikh pilgrims attend the 183rd anniversary of the death of their leader Maharaja Ranjit Singh, founder of the Sikh empire. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary) Archival Photos Oba Adele Adeniji, II, center, Chief of Lagos, welcomes General Wilfred Kitching and his wife at a reception ceremony at Salvation Army Headquarters in Lagos, Nigeria, on Nov. 2, 1955. Gen. Kitching was the first international Salvation Army leader to visit Nigeria. RNS archive photo by W. H. Fuller. Photo courtesy of the Presbyterian Historical Society. Eleven-year-old Homer Johnson, left, and Stephen Albers, 13, relax in the sun on the Albers family farm near Dundas, Minn., in late June 1965. Johnson, from St. Paul, was among many urban youth who spent eight days with rural families during the 18th Minnesota Visits Program. Some 150 families were hosts to Black, American Indian, Mexican and Asian children in the program jointly sponsored by the Minnesota Council of Churches and the Catholic Interracial Council of the Twin Cities. White children were also guests in the homes of minority families that year. RNS archive photo by Bruce Sifford. Photo courtesy of the Presbyterian Historical Society.

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