Photos of the Week: Hajj pilgrimage and Eid al-Adha
By Kit Doyle · May 27, 2026
(RNS) — Each week RNS presents a gallery of photos of religious expression around the world. This week’s photo selection includes the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia and Eid al-Adha.
Muslim pilgrims pray at the Grand Mosque in the holy city of Mecca during the annual hajj pilgrimage, Saudi Arabia, Sunday, May 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
A Muslim pilgrim prays in front of the Kaaba, Islam’s holiest site in the holy city of Mecca during the annual hajj pilgrimage, in Saudi Arabia, Sunday, May 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
Muslim pilgrims hold umbrellas as they walk to cast pebbles at pillars in the symbolic stoning of the devil, the last rite of the annual hajj, in Mina near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, May 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
Muslim pilgrims pray at top of the rocky hill known as the Mountain of Mercy, on the Plain of Arafat, during the annual hajj pilgrimage near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, May 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
Muslim pilgrims shave each other's heads in a ritual known as "halq," marking the completion of hajj after the symbolic stoning of the devil in Mina near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, May 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
Pope Leo XIV attends the presentation of his first encyclical, “Magnifica Humanitas: On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence,” at the Vatican, Monday, May 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Russia's top Muslim cleric Ravil Gainutdin, right, speaks prior to Eid al-Adha prayers inside the Moscow Cathedral Mosque during celebrations in Moscow, Russia, on Wednesday, May 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
Nigerian Muslims attend Eid al-Adha prayers in an open field in Minna, Nigeria, Wednesday, May 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)
Muslims prepare to slaughter a goat after performing prayers during Eid al-Adha, the Feast of Sacrifice holiday, in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Wednesday, May 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, right, greets Imam Sokona, left, during Eid al-Adha prayers in the Bronx borough of New York, Wednesday, May 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Kashmiri Muslims offer Eid al-Adha prayers inside a Mughal garden on the outskirts of Srinagar in Indian controlled Kashmir, Wednesday, May 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)
Muslim worshippers gather for Eid al-Adha prayers next to the Dome of the Rock shrine at the Al Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City, Wednesday, May 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
Archival Photos
Relatives, friends and a few sunbathers watch as marriage vows are exchanged on the beach at Stone Harbor, N.J., on June 28, 1975. Martha Marie Richards of Tamaqua, Pa., became the bride of Dale S. Cunningham of Weatherly, Pa., in a ceremony presided over by the Rev. F. Peter Muhr, a Lutheran clergyman. The couple selected the unusual setting for their wedding because they are longtime vacationers at Stone Harbor and, as the bride explained, "I feel closer to God here." (RNS archive photo by Robert S. Halvey. Photo courtesy of the Presbyterian Historical Society.)
The Rev. Douglas Johnson, left, of the National Council of Churches' Office of Research and Planning, and the Rev. Bernard Quinn, director of the Glenmary Home Missioners Research Center, look over a map which delineates the religious geography of America during a press briefing at the joint convention of the Catholic Press Association and Associated Church Press in Denver in May 1974. The map was based on a study called "Churches and Church Membership in the United States: 1971," which the two clergymen produced along with the Rev. Paul Picard of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. The study detailed, by county, state and region, the denominational membership patterns of 81% of the Christian church population of the U.S. in 1971. (RNS archive photo. Photo courtesy of the Presbyterian Historical Society.)
