Photos of the Week: Carnival traditions, Ramadan begins
By Kit Doyle · February 18, 2026
(RNS) — Each week RNS presents a gallery of photos of religious expression around the world. This week’s photo selection includes Carnival traditions around the world, the start of Ramadan, Ash Wednesday and more.
A carnival float depicting U.S. President Donald Trump is seen during the Rosemonday Carnival Parade in Duesseldorf, Germany, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026 (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
Revelers dressed as priests and nuns dance during the Carmelitas street party on the first official day of Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)
Zulu Tramps parade on Mardi Gras Day in New Orleans, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Matthew Hinton)
People wearing traditional carnival masks take part in Shrovetide celebrations, in Vilnius, Lithuania, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)
The Gilles of Binche wear their traditional ostrich feather hats and prepare to throw oranges during Carnival celebrations in Binche, Belgium, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Omar Havana)
People participating in the Society of Saint Anne parade pass through the Bywater and Marigny neighborhoods on Mardi Gras Day, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Matthew Hinton)
Performers from the Mocidade samba school parade during Carnival celebrations at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, late Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)
People gather for the Jews Against ICE rally outside ICE headquarters on Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026, in Washington, D.C. (RNS photo/Jack Jenkins)
A devotee with an ash cross on her forehead lights candles during Ash Wednesday rites Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026, at the Redemptorist Church in Manila, Philippines as Catholics in this predominantly Roman Catholic nation observe the start of Lent. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
Cardinal Joseph Tobin, archbishop of Newark, New Jersey, leaves the Delaney Hall Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility after celebrating Ash Wednesday Masses with detainees, Feb. 18, 2026, in Newark, N.J. (RNS photo/Fiona André)
Catholics line up to get their foreheads marked with ashes in the shape of a cross during an Ash Wednesday Mass outside Divine Child Church in Bogota, Colombia, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026, the start of the Christian season of Lent, a period of penitence and reflection that leads up to Easter. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
People attend a Mahashivratri celebration, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026, in New York. (RNS photo/Richa Karmarkar)
Indonesian Muslims perform an evening prayer called "tarawih," marking the first eve of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, at Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta, Indonesia, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim)
Displaced members of the Al-Zamil family break their fast on the first day of Ramadan at their tent encampment in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
People pray at the graves of their relatives ahead of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan in Jakarta, Indonesia, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim)
Archival Photos
The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. stands with other civil rights leaders on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tenn., on April 3, 1968, a day before he was assassinated at approximately the same place. From left are Hosea Williams, Jesse Jackson, King and Ralph Abernathy. The 39-year-old Nobel Laureate was the proponent of non-violence in the 1960's American Civil Rights Movement. King is honored with a national U.S. holiday celebrated in January. (AP Photo/Charles Kelly)
FILE - In this Tuesday, Dec. 7, 1983 file photo, six of the 1984 Democratic presidential candidates, from left, Walter Mondale, George McGovern, Sen. Gary Hart, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sen. John Glenn and Sen. Ernest Hollings, join hands to conclude a five-city fundraising sweep, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The candidates linked hands to show unity against the Reagan administration policies. (AP Photo/John Young)
The Rev. Jesse Jackson, who was among five persons arrested in a rock-throwing confrontation between demonstrators and police on the University of Illinois Circle Campus in Chicago, uses a police microphone in an attempt to quiet demonstrators in 1969. Jackson and four others were arrested when they refused to lead a group of about 600 demonstrators away from a construction site on the campus. They had gone there to press their demands for jobs for Black residents at Chicago construction sites. (RNS archive photo)
