Photos of the Week: Holy Week, death of Pope Francis

By Kit Doyle · April 23, 2025

(RNS) — Each week RNS presents a gallery of photos of religious expression around the world. This week’s photo gallery includes Christian Holy Week rites, the death of Pope Francis and more.

Pope Francis tours St. Peter's Square in his popemobile after bestowing the Urbi et Orbi (Latin for "to the city and to the world") blessing at the end of the Easter Mass, which was presided over by Cardinal Angelo Comastri, in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Sunday, April 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Howard and Patricia Fox participate in the annual Easter Parade and Bonnet Festival in front of St. Patrick's Cathedral on Sunday, April 20, 2025, in New York City. (Photo by Fiona Murphy)

Catholic clergy hold candles during the Washing of the Feet procession at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where many Christians believe Jesus was crucified, buried and rose from the dead, in the Old City of Jerusalem, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Members of the Fraternity of the Lord of Miracles gather before a procession begins at Our Lady Queen of the Americas Catholic Church in Washington, D.C., April 18, 2025. (RNS photo/Aleja Hertzler-McCain)

Cardinals hold candles as Dean of the College of Cardinals Giovanni Battista Re leads the Easter vigil inside St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Saturday, April 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, center, the spiritual leader of the world's Eastern Orthodox Christians, arrives to lead the service of the Holy Passion at the Patriarchal Church of St. George, in Istanbul, Turkey, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

A photograph of the late Pope Francis is placed at Saint Anthony Catholic Church in Istanbul, Turkey, after the announcement of his death, Monday, April 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Pope Francis' body is laid out in state inside his private Casa Santa Marta chapel at the Vatican, Monday, April 21, 2025. (Photo by Vatican Media/Handout)

Faithful attend a rosary prayer for the late Pope Francis, in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

The body of Pope Francis lies inside St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Wednesday, April 23, 2025, where he will lie in state for three days. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, Pool)

Worshippers pray during Mass at the Cathedral in Buenos Aires, Argentina, following the Vatican's announcement of Pope Francis' death, Monday, April 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

The body of Pope Francis is carried through St. Peter's Square to St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Wednesday, April 23, 2025, where he will lie in state for three days. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Archival Photos

U.S. servicemen on duty at the First Cavalry Division’s 8th Engineer Compound in Seoul, South Korea, are silhouetted against a clear sky as a 16-foot cross reminds them of Christ’s sufferings on April 13, 1963. The cross was erected for Easter sunrise services on the post. (RNS archive photo. Photo courtesy of the Presbyterian Historical Society.)

Auxiliary Bishop Eric F. Mackenzie of Boston, center, celebrated the first in a series of Lenten Masses at a General Electric plant in Lynn, Massachusetts, that was attended by more than 2,000 employees in 1955. Shown with the bishop after the service are left to right: Msgr. Bernard S. O’Kane of Newton, Massachusetts, Norman Randall, community services director for G.E., Harold E. Strang, vice president of G.E., and Msgr. Joseph F. McGlinchey. (RNS archive photo by Phil Stack. Photo courtesy of the Presbyterian Historical Society.)