Photos of the Week: Bolivian skulls; Israel-Hamas reactions

By Kit Doyle · November 10, 2023
 (RNS) — Each week Religion News Service presents a gallery of photos of religious expression around the world. This week’s photo gallery includes a Bolivian skull festival, reactions to the continuing Israel-Hamas war and more. An offering of coca leaves is inserted into the mouth of a decorated human skull on display during the annual "Natitas" festival, a tradition marking the end of the Catholic holiday of All Saints, at the General Cemetery in La Paz, Bolivia, Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023. The skulls are cared for and decorated by those who use them as amulets for protection. Natitas means "without a nose" in the Aymara language. (AP Photo/Juan Karita) People play instruments and dance around human skulls decorated for the annual Natitas festival, where people leave offerings of flowers, cigarettes and coca leaves to the skulls, a tradition marking the end of the Catholic holiday of All Saints, in La Paz, Bolivia, Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Juan Karita) The Rev. Guilherme Peixoto, a Catholic priest, performs with the Portuguese Army Symphonic Band at Army Day celebrations in Viana do Castelo, northern Portugal, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023. Peixoto plans to use his DJ skills to bring a Christian message to audiences who might have never heard of Jesus. (AP Photo/Miguel Angelo Pereira) Lamps made from cow dung are prepared ahead of Diwali in Jammu, India, Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023. Diwali, one of Hinduism's most important festivals, is dedicated to the worship of the goddess of wealth, Lakshmi. (AP Photo/Channi Anand) Costumed youth pose during the annual Diwali Motorcade celebrations in the Little Guyana neighborhood of Queens, New York, Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023. (Photo © Mat McDermott) Protesters hold banners reading "Stop the Massacre," left, and "Peace" during Pope Francis' Angelus noon prayer in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Sunday, Nov. 5, 2023. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia) Chabad-Lubavitch rabbis gathered in New York for the International Conference of Chabad Emissaries pray at the resting place of the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, at Montefiore Cemetery on Friday, Nov. 10, 2023, in Queens, New York. This year's conference focuses on the war between Israel and Hamas, antisemitism on college campuses and Jewish spiritual awakening following the attacks of Oct. 7. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki) Hundreds of thousands of people gather for a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Washington on Nov. 4, 2023. (AP Photo/Amanda Andrade-Rhoades) Photographs of Israelis being held by Hamas militants are projected on the walls of Jerusalem’s Old City, Nov. 6, 2023. The Islamic militant group killed 1,200 people and kidnapped 240 others in an unprecedented cross-border attack on Oct. 7, triggering a war that has raged for the past month. (AP Photo/Leo Correa) Issue 1 supporters cheer as election results come in, Nov. 7, 2023, in Columbus Ohio. Ohio voters approved a constitutional amendment that guarantees the right to abortion and other forms of reproductive health care. The outcome of Tuesday’s intense, off-year election was the latest blow for abortion opponents. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki) Aaron Baer, president of Center for Christian Virtue, concedes that the abortion rights proposal has passed during a watch party for opponents of Issue 1 at the Center for Christian Virtue in Columbus, Ohio, Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023. Ohio voters approved a constitutional amendment that guarantees the right to abortion and other forms of reproductive health care. The outcome of Tuesday’s intense, off-year election was the latest blow for abortion opponents. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) Archival Photos Sister Mary Sylvester of Alverno College plays violin at the American String Teachers' Association meeting in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, circa 1955. Sister Juliette Marie, left, of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary School and Sr. Mary Romana, of Cardinal Stritch College, look on. (RNS archive photo. Photo courtesy of the Presbyterian Historical Society.) Guests at the 31st annual Interfaith National Bible Week luncheon in New York in 1971 included, from left, Pearl S. Buck, Nobel and Pulitzer prize-winning novelist; Arthur J. Goldberg, former Supreme Court Justice and ambassador to the U.N. and then-chairman of National Bible Week; Claude L. Fly, agricultural consultant who was held hostage for seven months by Uruguayan guerrillas; Mrs. Norman Vincent Peale, honorary co-chairman of National Bible Week; E.C.R. Lasher, general industry chairman of Bible Week; Edward Starr, of Hill and Knowlton public relations; Dr. Norman Temme, executive secretary of the American Bible Society and chairman of the Bible Week advisory committee, and Associate Justice Theodore R. Kupferman of the New York State Supreme Court. (RNS archive photo. Photo courtesy of the Presbyterian Historical Society.)
Related Stories
Photos of the Week: Sikh anniversary; Rosalynn Carter services
By Kit Doyle
Photos of the Week: Thanksgiving; Christmas trees
By Kit Doyle
Photos of the Week: Diwali; March for Israel
By Kit Doyle
Photos of the Week: Day of the Dead; Maine shootings
By Kit Doyle
Photos of the Week: Romanian saint; Hindu festivals
By Kit Doyle