2022 Photos of the Year

By Kit Doyle · December 30, 2022
 (RNS) — Each week Religion News Service presents a gallery of photos of religious expression around the world. This week’s photo gallery looks back at some of the best visuals from 2022. A Ukrainian service member takes a photograph of a damaged church after shelling in a residential district in Mariupol, Ukraine, March 10, 2022. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama gestures to indicate that he is in good health during a religious talk at the Tsuglakhang temple in Dharmsala, India, Friday, March 18, 2022. The Tibetan leader made a public appearance after a gap of roughly two years. (AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia) Muslim men use water to perform the ritual ablution before the "Maghreb" (sunset) prayers at the end of the fasting day during the holy month of Ramadan, along the side of the road of the Jazeera State highway in the village of al-Nuba, about 30 miles south of Khartoum, Sudan's capital, Friday, April 8, 2022. (AP Photo/Marwan Ali) Penitents from the 'Hermandad Penitencial de Jesus Yacente' brotherhood take part in a procession in Zamora, Spain, early Friday, April 15, 2022. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue) FILE - Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill conducts the Easter service in the Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow, Russia, April 24, 2022. Britain has announced a new round of sanctions against Russia. Those targeted include Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, who Britain said “repeatedly abused his position to justify” Russia's war on Ukraine. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool, File) A Ukrainian soldier prays in St. Michael Cathedral during Orthodox Easter celebrations in Kyiv, Ukraine, Sunday, April 24, 2022. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky) The polluted Bagmati River flows to an exit point from Kathmandu, Nepal, Tuesday, April 26, 2022. Tainted by garbage and raw sewage that is dumped directly into the waterway, Nepal’s holiest river has deteriorated so greatly that today it is also the country’s most polluted, dramatically altering how the city of about 3 million interacts with the Bagmati on daily, cultural and spiritual levels. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha) Muslim girls attend Eid al-Fitr prayers at a park in the mixed Arab Jewish city of Jaffa, near Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, May 2, 2022. Muslims around the world celebrate the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty) A crowd of people gather outside the Supreme Court early Tuesday, May 3, 2022 in Washington. A draft opinion circulated among Supreme Court justices suggests that earlier this year a majority of them had thrown support behind overturning the 1973 case Roe v. Wade that legalized abortion nationwide, according to a report published Monday night in Politico. It's unclear if the draft represents the court's final word on the matter. The Associated Press could not immediately confirm the authenticity of the draft Politico posted, which if verified marks a shocking revelation of the high court's secretive deliberation process, particularly before a case is formally decided. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) Muslims offer an Eid al-Fitr prayer, marking the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, in Karachi, Pakistan, Tuesday, May 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan) A early 200-year-old monument to legendary Prince Volodymyr, a Kyiv landmark and one of the symbols of the Ukrainian capital, is wrapped to protect it from Russian shelling in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, May 12, 2022. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky) People gather at a memorial site to pay their respects for the victims killed in the elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, Thursday, May 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong) Cloistered nuns walk on a terrace of the Catholic Monastery of St. Catherine on the Greek island of Santorini on Tuesday, June 14, 2022. Twice a day, the nuns recess to chat on the convent's wide terraces, the Aegean Sea shimmering in the distance. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris) Anti-abortion protesters celebrate following the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the federally protected right to abortion, outside the Supreme Court in Washington, Friday, June 24, 2022. The Supreme Court has ended constitutional protections for abortion that had been in place nearly 50 years, a decision by its conservative majority to overturn the court's landmark abortion cases. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe) Soldiers stand guard as Hindu devotees begin the Amarnath Yatra annual pilgrimage to 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 against Indian rule and have for the first time tagged devotees with wireless tracking system. They also have deployed drones for surveillance. (AP Photo) Orthodox believers perform a traditional pilgrim's swim around a cross, which marks St. Antony Dymsky of the Russian Orthodox Church in Dymskoye Lake near Antonyevo-Dymsky Holy Trinity Monastery, 143 miles southeast from St. Petersburg, Russia, Thursday, July 7, 2022. The saint, who lived in this place in the 13th century, used to spend several hours each day while standing and praying on an underwater stone in the lake. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky) Palestinian women, right, walk on the Mediterranean Sea beachfront during the Eid Al Adha festival, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, July 10, 2022. Palestinians visited Tel Aviv and other places in Israel after Israel granted travel permits to West Bank Palestinians. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty) Pope Francis, left, wears a traditional headdress he was given after his apology to Indigenous people during a ceremony in Maskwacis, Alberta, as part of his papal visit across Canada, Monday, July 25, 2022. Pope Francis traveled across Canada delivering long overdue apologies to the country's Indigenous groups for the decades of abuses and cultural destruction they suffered at Catholic Church-run residential schools. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP) People display a banner during a Mass celebrated by Pope Francis at the National Shrine of Saint Anne de Beaupré in Quebec City, Canada, Thursday, July 28, 2022. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia) Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, front row, centre right poses for a photo with bishops from around the world at the University of Kent, during the 15th Lambeth Conference, in Canterbury, England, Friday, July 29, 2022. Friction has been simmering within the global Anglican Communion for many years over its 42 provinces’ sharp differences on whether to recognize same-sex marriage and ordain LGBTQ clergy. In 2022, the divisions have widened, as conservative bishops – notably from Africa and Asia – affirmed their opposition to LGBTQ inclusion and demanded “repentance” by the more liberal provinces with inclusive policies. (Gareth Fuller/PA via AP, File) 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) A Hindu holy man shouts religious slogans during a procession to observe "Krishna Janmashtami" in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Friday, Aug. 19, 2022. Krishna Janmashtami marks the birth of Hindu god Krishna. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan) People form a human pyramid to break the "Dahi handi," an earthen pot filled with curd, as part of celebrations to mark Janmashtami festival in Mumbai, India, Friday, Aug. 19, 2022. The festival marks the birth of Hindu god Krishna and the act seeks to reenact the story of Lord Krishna stealing butter during his childhood. (AP Photo/Rajanish kakade) Pope Francis arrives to open the Holy Door of St. Mary in Collemaggio Basilica and start the jubilee of forgiveness, in L'Aquila, central Italy, Sunday, Aug. 28, 2022. Pope Francis will be the first pope since Celestine V to open this Holy Door, the first in history, established with the Bull of Forgiveness of 29 September 1294 by Pope Celestine V. (AP Photo/Riccardo De Luca) The Sydney Opera House is illuminated in honour of Queen Elizabeth II in Sydney, Australia, Friday, Sept. 9, 2022. Queen Elizabeth II, Britain's longest-reigning monarch and a rock of stability in a turbulent era for her country and the world, died Thursday, Sept. 8 after 70 years on the throne. She was 96. (AP Photo/Mark Baker) Faithful of the Afro-Brazilian religion Candomble walk on the shore before a Defense of Religious Freedom march at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sunday, 18 Sept. 2022. The march seeks to draw the attention of society and public authorities to the growth of cases of religious intolerance in the country. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado) The Ceremonial Procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II travels down the Long Walk as it arrives at Windsor Castle for the Committal Service at St George's Chapel, in Windsor, England, Monday, Sept. 19, 2022. (Aaron Chown/Pool photo via AP) A Buddhist monk lights a butter lamp at a Buddhist monastery during a prayer session to mark the funeral of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II in Kathmandu, Nepal, Monday, Sept. 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha) In this Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022, photo taken by an individual not employed by the Associated Press and obtained by the AP outside Iran, protesters chant slogans during a protest over the death of a woman who was detained by the morality police, in downtown Tehran, Iran. (AP Photo) Women hold up images of Iranian Mahsa Amini as they shout slogans during a protest against her death, outside Iran's general consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022. Protests have erupted across Iran and the Middle East in recent days after Amini, a 22-year-old woman, died while being held by the morality police for violating the country's strictly enforced Islamic dress code. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco) People crowd a makeshift worship place for Hindu goddess Durga during Durga Puja festival, in Kolkata, India, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2022. The immersion of idols on the fifth and final day marks the end of the festival that commemorates the slaying of a demon king by lion-riding, 10-armed goddess Durga, marking the triumph of good over evil. (AP Photo/Bikas Das) Pope Francis in a wheelchair attends his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2022. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino) People light lamps on the banks of the Saryu River in Ayodhya, India, Sunday, Oct. 23, 2022. Over 15,00,000 earthen lamps were lit along the banks of the Saryu River, as millions of people across Asia celebrate Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh) Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, wearing a ceremonial hat, arrives to attend a prayer by devotees for his long life at the Tsuglakhang temple in Dharamshala, India, Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia) People hug after lighting a candle in memory of Melvin Wax, one of 11 worshippers killed four years ago when a gunman opened fire at the Tree of Life synagogue in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood, during a commemoration ceremony in Pittsburgh on Thursday, Oct. 27, 2022. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar) A woman dressed as Mexico's iconic "Catrina" poses for tourists in Mexico City's main square, the Zocalo, as part of the Day of the Dead festivities in Mexico City, Friday, Oct. 28, 2022. The holiday honors the dead as friends and family gather in cemeteries to decorate the graves of their loved ones. and hold a vigil during the night of November 1 and 2. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte) Followers of the ancient Sabean Mandaean religious sect pray alongside the Tigris river during the Prosperity Day celebration in the Tigris River in central Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2022. Mandaeism follows the teachings of John the Baptist, a saint in both the Christian and Islamic traditions, and its rites revolve around water and prosperity. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban) Cypriot soldiers carry the body of the late head of Cyprus' Orthodox Church, Archbishop Chrysostomos II during his funeral ceremony, at Saint Barnabas Cathedral, in Nicosia, Cyprus, Saturday, Nov. 12, 2022. The outspoken Chrysostomos, whose forays into the country's complex politics and finances fired up supporters and detractors alike, died Monday at the age of 81. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias) Nuns of the Missionaries of Charity, the order founded by Saint Teresa, participate in the annual Corpus Christi procession organized by the Catholic Association of Bengal, in Kolkata, India, Sunday, Nov. 20, 2022. (AP Photo/Bikas Das) Metropolitan Oleksandr delivers a religious service with clerics inside the Transfiguration of Jesus Orthodox Cathedral during blackout caused by recent Russian rocket attacks, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, Dec. 3, 2022. A top Orthodox priest in Ukraine's capital says he supports the efforts of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's government and counter-intelligence agency to end Russian spying and meddling in Ukrainian politics through a Moscow-affiliated church. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky) Fans watch the homecoming parade of the Argentine national soccer team, which won the 2022 World Cup tournament in Qatar, from an overpass in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2022. The sign reads, "I only ask God." (AP Photo/Victor Caivano)
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