Photos of the Week: Hindu pilgrimage; Southern Baptist leaders meet

By Paul O'Donnell · February 19, 2025

(RNS) — Each week RNS presents a gallery of photos of religious expression around the world. This week’s photo gallery includes a Hindu pilgrimage, the SBC Executive Committee meeting and more.

Pilgrims hold up their saris to dry after a holy dip at the confluence of the Ganges, the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati rivers during Maha Kumbh festival in Prayagraj, Sunday, Feb.16, 2025. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

Hindu devotees perform rituals after a holy dip at the Sangam, the confluence of three rivers, the Ganges, the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati, on Maghi Purnima or the full-moon day during the Maha Kumbh festival in Prayagraj, India Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

A woman kneels at the foot of a statue of St. John Paul II outside the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome, Feb. 16, 2025, where Pope Francis was hospitalized Friday after a weeklong bout of bronchitis worsened. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Faith leaders satirically ask for alms for fossil industry at launch of the United to End Polluter Handouts campaign on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025 in the U.S. Capitol Visitors Center in Washington. (Paul Morigi/AP Content Services for United to End Polluter Handouts)

The Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee gathered for their annual meeting on Monday, Feb. 17, 2025 in Nashville, TN. (RNS photo/Bob Smietana)

A Kashmiri Shiite Muslim lights a candle on the graves of her relatives while offering prayers for the salvation of the souls of the departed, during Shab-e-Barat, on the outskirts of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

A Kashmiri Shiite Muslim girl lights a candle on the graves of her relatives, while offering prayers for the salvation of the souls of the departed, during Shab-e-Barat, on the outskirts of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

Thai Buddhist monks pray as they gather at Wat Dhammakaya temple to participate in Makha Bucha Day ceremonies in Pathum Thani, Thailand, Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Archival Photos

First graders at St. Thomas Aquinas School in Dallas, Tex., offer Valentine's Day wishes for Caroline Kennedy in Feb. 1964. The card they made for the assassinated president's daughter was four feet high. Too large for the mail, a photo of the card and letters from each of the students were sent to Caroline. Sister Rosaline, teacher of the class, said the youngsters wanted to express their feelings at Christmas but decided to wait and construct the giant Valentine. (RNS archive photo. Photo courtesy of the Presbyterian Historical Society.)

A group of American seminarians throw snowballs in St. Peter's Square during a large snowfall at the Vatican in Feb. 1965. (RNS archive photo. Photo courtesy of the Presbyterian Historical Society.)