Photos of the Week: Dalai Lama longevity; St. Francis death anniversary

By Kit Doyle · February 25, 2026

(RNS) — Each week RNS presents a gallery of photos of religious expression around the world. This week’s photo selection includes prayers for the Dalai Lama's longevity, the 800th death anniversary of St. Francis and more.

Exiled Tibetan Buddhist monks play cymbals as they conduct ritual prayers at the Tsuglakhang temple to usher in the Tibetan new year, or Losar, in Dharamshala, India, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia)

Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, 90, presides over an event during which Tibetan exiles prayed for his longevity in Dharamshala, India, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia)

A devotee has tears in her eyes as she looks at Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, unseen, upon his arrival to preside over an event during which Tibetan exiles prayed for his longevity in Dharamshala, India, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia)

Pilgrims leave after they viewed the bones of St. Francis during the first public display inside the St. Francis Basilica, marking the 800th anniversary of the saint's death, in Assisi, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Pilgrims honor the bones of St. Francis during the first public display inside the St. Francis Basilica, marking the 800th anniversary of the saint's death, in Assisi, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

A vendor arranges traditional vermicelli noodles, a favorite during the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan, at a factory in Lahore, Pakistan, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)

Ramadan decorations at the Husic home on Feb. 21, 2026, in Kennesaw, Georgia. (Photo courtesy of Jasmin Husic)

Muslims break their Ramadan fast outdoors in Lahore, Pakistan, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)

A crane lifts the upper arm of the cross onto the Tower of Jesus Christ at the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026, reaching the basilica's maximum height of 172.5 meters (566 feet). (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Buddhist monks gather to stage a protest demanding more respect from the government, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Venura C. Rathnayake)

Archival Photos

The benediction is pronounced as Lackawanna Train 606 pulls into Hoboken, N.J., on March 3, 1965. Commuters bound for New York sat with bared heads as the Rev. Craig Biddle III, curate of St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Morristown, N.J., held a 20-minute service on Ash Wednesday. The mobile worship experience, he told the smoking-car congregation, was not an attempt "to play church or perform an experiment — this service is basically taking the ritual of the commuter and adding it to the liturgy of the church." Many of the commuters were enthusiastic about the service and expressed hope they would be continued. (RNS archive photo. Photo courtesy of the Presbyterian Historical Society.)

James Visser, a South African laborer, views a sign erected by Anglican authorities on the steps of St. George's Cathedral in Capetown, South Africa, in 1957. The cathedral is a stone's throw from the House of Assembly which approved, upon its initial reading, the Native Laws Amendment bill giving the government the right to prohibit Blacks from worshipping with whites. The measure was denounced by leaders of most major religious bodies in South Africa. (RNS archive photo by John Colman. Photo courtesy of the Presbyterian Historical Society.)