Photos of the Week: Iraqi unrest, Indian wrestlers

By Kit Doyle · August 5, 2022

(RNS) — Each week Religion News Service presents a gallery of photos of religious expression around the world. This week’s photo gallery includes unrest in Iraq, traditional Indian wrestlers and more.

Traditional Indian wrestlers prepare for bouts during Nag Panchami festival in Prayagraj, India, Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2022. Every year, the wrestlers offer prayers and hold bouts to mark the festival, which is primarily dedicated to the worship of snakes. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

Hindu devotees offer prayers at a snake temple during Nag Panchami festival in Hyderabad, India, Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2022. The festival is dedicated to the worship of snakes. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

Traditional wrestlers engage in a bout of wrestling during Nag Panchami festival in Prayagraj, India, Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2022. Every year, the wrestlers offer prayers and hold bouts to mark the festival, which is primarily dedicated to the worship of snakes. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

Chase Briscoe prays with his wife, Marissa, as she holds their son Brooks before a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Sunday, July 31, 2022, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

Followers of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr attend open-air Friday prayers in the Grand Festivities Square inside the Green Zone, in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, Aug. 5, 2022. Hundreds of thousands heeded the call of the influential al-Sadr to gather for a mass prayer in a show of strength in the heart of Baghdad's fortified government zone. (AP Photo/Anmar Khalil)

Followers of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr hold posters with his photo during a sit-in protest in Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022. The cleric has told his followers to continue their sit-in inside Iraq's government zone and called for the dissolution of the parliament and early elections. (AP Photo/Adil al-Khazali)

A protester holds a poster depicting Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr on a bridge leading to the Green Zone area in Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, July 30, 2022 — days after hundreds breached Baghdad's parliament Wednesday chanting anti-Iran curses in a demonstration against a nominee for prime minister by Iran-backed parties.(AP Photo/Anmar Khalil)

Followers of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr cool off inside the Green Zone, while others held a sit-in inside the parliament building, in Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2022. (AP Photo/Anmar Khalil)

Iraqi protesters, mostly followers of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, fill the parliament building in Baghdad, July 31, 2022. After political rivals of al-Sadr declared their own counterprotest, security forces erected concrete barriers leading to the heavily fortified Green Zone that houses the parliament building. (AP Photo/Anmar Khalil, File)

Followers of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr hold posters with his photo during a sit-in, inside the parliament in Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022. The Influential Shiite cleric has told his followers to continue their sit-in inside Iraq’s government zone, and called for the dissolution of the parliament and early elections. (AP Photo/Anmar Khalil)

Archival Photos

A group of Israeli farmers demonstrates outside the Knesset in Jerusalem, in March 1980, holding signs reading "There Is No Nation Without Its Farmers" and "Dairy, Orchard, Chicken Coop — Going Out of Business." More than 10,000 people took part in the protests, which later turned into a near-riot when many demonstrators began throwing objects and police responded with water cannons. RNS archive photo. Photo courtesy of the Presbyterian Historical Society.

The Rev. Harold D. Long, a United Church of Christ clergyman from Birmingham, Alabama, conducts the opening Communion service at the UCC General Synod in Chicago, Illinois, in July 1965. RNS archive photo. Photo courtesy of the Presbyterian Historical Society.

Mrs. Walter R. Clyde of Pittsburgh, seen here at a lunch at Georgetown Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C. on July 27, 1965, was one of three women who took part in the first formal conversations designed to aid understanding between Roman Catholics and United Presbyterians. With Mrs. Clyde, who is chairman of ecumenical relations for the United Presbyterian Women, from left to right, are: Dr. Leonard P. Swidler of Pittsburgh, Pa., a Catholic layman and professor of history at Duquesne University.; William P. Thompson of Wichita, Kan., moderator of the United Presbyterian General Assembly; Donald Farrell of Washington, D.C., program director for the National Council of Catholic Men; Dr. Robert McAfee Brown, Presbyterian theologian and professor of religion at Stanford (Cal.) University; and Msgr. William W. Baum of Washington, D.C., executive director of the U.S. Catholic hierarchy's Commission for Ecumenical Affairs. RNS archive photo. Photo courtesy of the Presbyterian Historical Society.