Photos of the Week: Benedict Death; Epiphany; Orthodox Christmas

By Kit Doyle · January 6, 2023

(RNS) — Each week Religion News Service presents a gallery of photos of religious expression around the world. This week’s photo gallery includes the death of Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI, Epiphany commemorations and Orthodox Christmas.

Thousands lined up pay their respects the late Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI, who lay in state inside St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, Jan. 3, 2023. Benedict was a German theologian who will be remembered as the first pope in 600 years to resign. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

Bishops and cardinals attend the funeral Mass for the late Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

The coffin of Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI is sealed at the Vatican, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023, in preparation for burial. (Vatican Media)

A crowd of some 50,000 attend the funeral Mass for Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Pope Francis, center, presides over a funeral Mass for Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Nuns arrive at dawn to view the body of Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI as it lies in state in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023. The Vatican announced that Pope Benedict died on Dec. 31, 2022, aged 95. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

A priest blesses horses and their owners during Epiphany celebrations in the village of Pietrosani, Romania, Friday, Jan. 6, 2023. According to local Epiphany tradition, villagers have their horses blessed with holy water before competing in a race. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Men play bagpipes and drums as they form a procession into the cold Tundzha River to celebrate Epiphany in the town of Kalofer, Bulgaria, Friday, Jan. 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Alexander Nikolov)

Greek Orthodox faithful hold up a wooden crucifix after retrieving it in the Golden Horn on Epiphany in Istanbul, Turkey, Friday, Jan. 6, 2023. By tradition, the person who retrieves a crucifix cast into a body of water is believed to be freed from evil spirits and will enjoy good health through the year. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Members of Congress prayer in the House chamber before the House meets for the fourth day to elect a speaker and convene the 118th Congress in Washington, Friday, Jan. 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Palestinian scouts march during the Christian Orthodox Christmas Eve celebrations at the Church of the Nativity in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, the traditional birthplace of Jesus, Friday, Jan. 6, 2023. (AP Photo/ Nasser Nasser)

Archbishop of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Jerusalem Anba Antonios, center, takes part in a mass for Christian Orthodox Christmas Eve at the Church of the Nativity in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, the traditional birthplace of Jesus, Friday, Jan. 6, 2023. (AP Photo/ Nasser Nasser)

Archival Photos

Pope Benedict XVI greets the crowd from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican on April 19, 2005, soon after his election. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, File)

FILE - Pope John Paul II places his hands on the shoulders of West German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, archbishop of Munich and Freising, on Oct. 22, 1978, during the solemn inauguration of his ministry as universal Pastor of the Church in Vatican City. As John Paul’s right-hand man on doctrinal matters, Ratzinger wrote documents reinforcing church teaching opposing homosexuality, abortion and euthanasia, and asserting that salvation can only be found in the Catholic Church. (AP Photo, File)

Pope Benedict XVI smiles during a Mass in St. Peter's Square celebrated by 15,000 white-robed priests, all marking the end of the Vatican's Year of the Priest, on June 11, 2010. Pope Benedict XVI rarely got credit for having turned the Vatican around on clergy sexual abuse, but as cardinal and pope, he pushed through revolutionary changes to church law to make it easier to defrock predator priests. (AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito, File)

FILE - Joseph Ratzinger, the new archbishop of Munich and Freising, raises his arms to greet believers at his arrival in the Bavarian capital of Munich, Germany, on May 23, 1977. (AP Photo/Dieter Endlicher, File)

FILE - Pope Benedict XVI attends his weekly general audience in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican, on Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2005. He was the reluctant pope, a shy bookworm who preferred solitary walks in the Alps and Mozart piano concertos to the public glare and majesty of Vatican pageantry. When Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger became Pope Benedict XVI and was thrust into the footsteps of his beloved and charismatic predecessor, he said he felt a guillotine had come down on him. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis, File)

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger speaks at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church on Jan. 27, 1988, in New York. RNS file photo by Odette Lupis

Pope Benedict XVI prays with his brother Mons. Georg Ratzinger in his private chapel at the Vatican April 14, 2012. Picture taken April 14, 2012. Photo by Osservatore Romano

With the towers of the cathedral in the background, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, later Pope Benedict XVI, bids farewell to Bavarian believers in Munich, Germany, Feb. 28, 1982. (AP Photo/Dieter Endlicher, File)

In this June 28, 2017, file photo, Pope Francis, left, and Pope Benedict XVI meet each other on the occasion of the elevation of five new cardinals at the Vatican. (L'Osservatore Romano/Pool photo via AP, File)

Pope Benedict XVI acknowledges cheers from faithful and pilgrims during the weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2007. (AP Photo/Plinio Lepri, File)