Photos of the Week: Yom Kippur; Brazilian religious freedom march

By Kit Doyle · September 22, 2023
 (RNS) — Each week Religion News Service presents a gallery of photos of religious expression around the world. This week’s photo gallery includes Jewish commemorations of Yom Kippur, Brazilians marching to defend religious freedom and more. Ultra-Orthodox Jews select chickens to be used in the Kaparot ritual in Jerusalem, Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023. Observant Jews believe the ritual transfers one's sins from the past year into the chicken and is performed before the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish year which starts at sundown Sunday. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg) Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men and boys of the Kiryat Sanz sect pray on a hill overlooking the Mediterranean Sea as they participate in a Tashlich ceremony, in Netanya, Israel, Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023. Tashlich, which means "to cast away" in Hebrew, is the practice in which Jews go to a large flowing body of water and symbolically "throw away" their sins by throwing a piece of bread, or similar food, into the water before the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit) Jewish worshippers pray for forgiveness ahead of the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, at the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray in Jerusalem's old city, Friday, Sept. 22, 2023. On Yom Kippur devout Jews refrain from eating and drinking and attend intense prayer services in synagogues. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg) The Rev. Adriene Thorne receives a robe during her pastoral installation service at Riverside Church in New York, Sunday, Sept. 17, 2023. Photo courtesy Riverside Church Supporters assemble to welcome top Kashmiri separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, center, as he arrives to offer Friday prayers outside the Jamia Masjid or Grand Mosque in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Friday, Sept. 22, 2023. Indian authorities released the key Muslim cleric after four years of house arrest and allowed him to lead Friday prayers in Srinagar, the main city of Indian-controlled Kashmir, according to mosque authorities. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan) United Methodist Bishop Minerva G. Carcaño, right, is greeted by a man following the announcement of the jury verdict on Sept. 22, 2023, the fourth day of her church trial in Glenview, Illinois. Carcaño was found not guilty on all four charges against her. Photo by Paul Jeffrey, UM News Pope Francis takes part in a moment of reflection with other religious leaders next to the Memorial dedicated to sailors and migrants lost at sea, in Marseille, France, Friday, Sept. 22, 2023. Francis, during a two-day visit, will join Catholic bishops from the Mediterranean region on discussions largely focused on migration. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin) A model boat hangs from the ceiling of the Notre Dame de la Garde Basilica as Pope Francis delivers his speech during a Marian prayer with the diocesan clergy, in Marseille, France, Friday, Sept. 22, 2023. Francis, during a two-day visit, will join Catholic bishops from the Mediterranean region on discussions that will largely focus on migration. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole) Faithful from various religions participate in the Defense of Religious Freedom march at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sunday, Sept. 17, 2023. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado) A group of adherents from Afro-Brazilian cults during a Defense of Religious Freedom march at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sunday, Sept. 17, 2023. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado) Hundreds of believers gather for a blessing at the Cologne Cathedral in Cologne, Germany, Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023. Several Catholic priests held a ceremony blessing same-sex and re-married heterosexual couples outside cathedral to protest the city's conservative archbishop, Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner) The Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention meets Monday, Sept. 18, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. RNS photo by Bob Smietana An unidentified relative hugs Lina Lutfiawati, center, after her trial in Palembang, South Sumatra, Indonesia, Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023. The court sentenced Lutfiawati to two years in prison for saying a Muslim prayer and then eating pork on a TikTok video. (AP Photo/Mohammad Fadli) Members of the Sikh community protest the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, shown on banner, in Peshawar, Pakistan, Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023. Nijjar, a 45-year-old Sikh leader, was killed by masked gunmen in Canada in June. (AP Photo/Muhammad Sajjad)
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