Photos of the Week: Mawlid, first millennial saint
By Kit Doyle · September 10, 2025
(RNS) — Each week RNS presents a gallery of photos of religious expression around the world. This week’s photo gallery includes Mawlid celebrations, the canonization of the first millennial saint and more.
Women pray as Muslims mark Prophet Muhammad's birthday, known as Mawlid, in Dakar, Senegal, Friday, Sept. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)
Muslims attend a procession as they mark Prophet Muhammad's birthday, known as Mawlid, in Lahore, Pakistan, Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
Muslims dance and march to mark Prophet Muhammad's birthday, known as Mawlid, on the streets of Lagos, Nigeria, Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)
Women take selfie photos during the celebration of Mawlid al-Nabi, the birthday of Prophet Muhammad, in Mogadishu, Somalia, Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh)
A view of the canonization Mass celebrated by Pope Leo XIV of Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
The family of Carlo Acutis, from right, sister Francesca, mother Antonia, father Andrea, and brother Michele, attend the canonization Mass celebrated by Pope Leo XIV, left, of Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Pilgrims arrive for the canonization Mass of Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Pope Leo XIV waves to faithful holding a picture of Blessed Carlo Acutis as he arrives in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican for an open-air audience Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
President Donald Trump speaks at a public hearing of the White House Religious Liberty Commission at the Museum of the Bible, Monday, Sept. 8, 2025, in Washington. (RNS photo/Jack Jenkins)
Russian Orthodox Church believers take part in a religious procession devoted to the All-Moscow Saints Day, in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025, with the Christ the Savior Cathedral in the background. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
Israeli police and rescue teams respond at the scene of a shooting attack where several people were killed and injured in Jerusalem, Monday, Sept. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
Some of the hundreds of LGBTQ+ Catholics and their families who joined a Holy Year pilgrimage to Rome, celebrating a new level of acceptance in the Catholic Church and crediting Pope Francis for the change, walk through the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Devotees prepare to immerse a giant idol of elephant-headed Hindu god Ganesha in the Arabian Sea, marking the end of the 10-day long Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai , India, Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
Archival Photos
People in the Kyrenia area of Cyprus get an inside view of the situation as Turkish soldiers consolidate positions in the region in July 1974, following a Greek Cypriot coup d'état. Turkish troops arrested able-bodied men and expelled women and children from Greek Cypriot havens in the area Turkish armed forces occupied since landing on the island. (RNS archive photo. Photo courtesy of the Presbyterian Historical Society.)
A military guard stands watch over an altar in Brasilia, Brazil, on June 28, 1980, where Pope John Paul II would officiate an open-air Mass. The visit to the capital city was the pope’s first stop of his historic 12-day trip to Brazil. (RNS archive photo. Photo courtesy of the Presbyterian Historical Society.)
