From a bird's-eye view high above St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, a stunning photograph shows the estimated 250,000 mourners who gathered for the funeral of Pope Francis. Another photo, taken at sunset from a beach in Uruguay, shows a solitary woman wading knee-deep into the ocean to pay homage to the African sea goddess Yemanja.
The contrasting images — a reverent multitude and a lone believer – epitomize the dazzling diversity of themes and settings depicted by Associated Press photographers in 2025 as they chronicled displays of faith and spirituality around the world.
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A weather vane in the form of an angel on top of the spire of the Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral is silhouetted against the sun showing solar activity zones, photographed by a solar telescope, in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Aug. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky, File)
A congregant of the Re'ese Adbarat Debre Selam Kidist Mariam Church, an Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo church, stands during a service, in Washington, D.C., April 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski, File)
An Indian volunteer carries an idol of elephant-headed Hindu god Ganesha to immerse in an artificial pond, in Mumbai, India, Aug. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade, File)
Darleen Hall worships during a service at New Mount Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church, in Chicago, Sept. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
A Tamil Hindu priest takes part in a procession during the Thaipusam festival at Batu Caves, on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Feb. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian, File)
Blood stains a religious icon of the Virgin Mary and child inside the Mar Elias Greek Orthodox Church, during a memorial service, a day after a suicide bombing, in Dweil'a on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, June 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki, File)
Participants carry a portable shrine, or mikoshi, into the sea during a purification rite at the annual Kurihama Sumiyoshi Shrine Festival at Kurihama, Yokosuka city, south of Tokyo, July 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)
Iranian Shiite Muslims mourn in a ceremony on the eve of Ashoura, the death anniversary of Prophet Muhammad's grandson, Hussein, in Tehran Iran, July 5, 2025, (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)
An Aymara Indigenous spiritual guide blesses a statue of baby Jesus with incense after an Epiphany Mass at a Catholic church in La Paz, Bolivia, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Juan Karita, File)
Father Paisios is followed by cats as he walks at the Simonopetra, or Simonos Petra Monastery, home of the all-male autonomous community of Agion Oros, or Holy Mountain, on the peninsula of Mount Athos, in northern Greece, April 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis, File)
Ultra-Orthodox Jewish children dress up in costumes during school ahead of the Jewish holiday of Purim, in Jerusalem, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg, File)
A Christian pilgrim rests her head while praying during Easter Sunday Mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, in Jerusalem's Old City, April 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean, File)
Followers from the Layene brotherhood gather near a sacred grotto where they believe their prophet received divine inspiration, in Ngor, Senegal, Jan. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Annika Hammerschlag, File)
Worshippers gather for Easter Mass inside the ruins of St. George Melkite Catholic Church, damaged by Israeli airstrike, in Dardghaya, southern Lebanon, April 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)
A masked monk stands behind a curtain, assisting a dancer in preparing for a traditional performance, during Gyalpo Losar, the Sherpa community's New Year celebration, at Shechen Monastery, in Kathmandu, Nepal, Feb. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha, File)
Girls, wearing crowns made of flowers, dance during the 'Sanziene' midsummer festival at the Dimitrie Gusti Village Museum, in Bucharest, Romania, June 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru, File)
A woman wades into the waters of Ramirez Beach as part of a ritual honoring the African sea goddess Yemanja, in Montevideo, Uruguay, Feb. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico, File)
Revelers take part in the Devils and Congos Festival, in Portobelo, Panama, May 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix, File)
A portrait of the late Pope Francis is projected onto a water fountain at Magic Water Circuit, in Lima, Peru, April 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia, File)
Pope Leo XIV arrives on his pope mobile before celebrating a Mass for the Jubilee of Families, in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, June 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, File)
A view of the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, File)
The body of Pope Francis is carried into St. Peter's Basilica to lie in state for three days, at the Vatican, April 23, 2025, (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti, File)
A nun holds a photo of Pope Francis while attending his funeral, in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru, File)
Pilgrims ride through dusty terrain, on their way to the shrine of El Rocio during the annual pilgrimage, near Aznalcázar, Spain, June 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti, File)
A reveler holds her dog as she participates in the annual Easter Parade and Bonnet Festival in front of St. Patrick's Cathedral, in New York, April 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki, File)
Greek Orthodox faithful hold up a wooden crucifix after it was retrieved in the Golden Horn during the Epiphany ceremony, in Istanbul, Turkey, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra, File)
People with skull make up on their faces, march during the Paseo de las Animas parade as part of the Day of the Dead celebrations, in Merida, Mexico, Oct. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Martin Zetina, File)
Palestinians sit at a large table surrounded by the rubble of destroyed homes and buildings as they gather for iftar, the fast-breaking meal, as the sun sets, on the first day of Ramadan, in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, March 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana, File)
A man rides a horse through a bonfire as part of a ritual in honor of Saint Anthony the Abbot, the patron saint of domestic animals, in San Bartolome de Pinares, Spain, Jan. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez, File)
Naga Sadhus or Naked Hindu holy men take a bath at the Sangam, the confluence of three sacred rivers the Yamuna, the Ganges and the mythical Saraswati, on Vasant Panchami, during the Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh state, India, Feb. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Channi Anand, File)
Among the 30 photos selected for this gallery — out of more than 1,000 reviewed by AP photo editors — several vividly captured the fervor and joy of religious festivals, pilgrimages and parades.
In San Bartolome de Pinares, Spain, a man rides a horse through a bonfire in a ritual honoring St. Anthony the Abbot, the patron saint of domestic animals. Marchers with their faces painted like skulls parade in Merida, Mexico, during Day of the Dead celebrations. At the annual Easter Parade and Bonnet Festival outside St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York, the revelers include a woman clutching her dog — both wearing bejeweled sunglasses and flouncy magenta outfits.
Other images — reflecting the collision of faith and war — are somberly evocative.
An overhead shot taken by Abdel Kareem Hana shows scores of Palestinians in Gaza seated outdoors at a long table, surrounded by the rubble of destroyed homes and buildings, as they gather at sunset on the first day of Ramadan for iftar, the Muslim holy month's fast-breaking meal.
In a photo from southern Lebanon, worshippers gather for Easter Mass inside the ruins of St. George Melkite Catholic Church after it was shattered by an Israeli airstrike. At a Greek Orthodox church in Damascus, Syria, AP’s Omar Sanadiki depicts a luminous religious icon splattered with blood stains from a suicide bombing the previous day that killed more than 20 people.
Getting to the right place at the right time was the key to producing some of these photographs. Athens-based photographer Thanassis Stavrakas and his colleagues strived for more than a year to arrange a visit to the cliffside Monastery of Simonos Petra on a remote peninsula in northern Greece. Among his indelible images: one of the robed monks strolling along the clifftop, followed by a string of cats.
In southern Spain, photographer Emilio Morenatti spent three days accompanying pilgrims along rugged rural routes during their annual trek to the shrine of El Rocio. The payoff: prize-winning photos — including one in this gallery — of pilgrims on horseback riding through dusty, sunlit woodlands.
The bird’s-eye photo mentioned above — of Pope Francis' funeral — was an adventure of a different sort for AP’s Alessandra Tarantino. Along with a handful of other photographers, she was granted brief access to a rooftop terrace at St. Peter’s to take photos of the ceremonies down below. Their designated spot was next to a huge statue of Jesus.
“I was very focused on the photo,” Tarantino recalled. “We had only a few seconds to take it, and even though it wasn’t a technically complicated photo, I was nervous. I had never been in that position during an event like that.”
"I was amazed by how many people there were, stretching out as far as I could see. ... Everyone’s attention was on Francis' coffin, which looked so small in that churchyard where he had celebrated hundreds of Masses. So small, so distant from ‘his’ people.”
Nervous, perhaps. But Tarantino’s photo captured all of that.
Photo editing by Ben Curtis and Anne-Marie Belgrave
Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
A weather vane in the form of an angel on top of the spire of the Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral is silhouetted against the sun showing solar activity zones, photographed by a solar telescope, in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Aug. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky, File)
A congregant of the Re'ese Adbarat Debre Selam Kidist Mariam Church, an Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo church, stands during a service, in Washington, D.C., April 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski, File)
An Indian volunteer carries an idol of elephant-headed Hindu god Ganesha to immerse in an artificial pond, in Mumbai, India, Aug. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade, File)
Darleen Hall worships during a service at New Mount Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church, in Chicago, Sept. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
A Tamil Hindu priest takes part in a procession during the Thaipusam festival at Batu Caves, on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Feb. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian, File)
Blood stains a religious icon of the Virgin Mary and child inside the Mar Elias Greek Orthodox Church, during a memorial service, a day after a suicide bombing, in Dweil'a on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, June 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki, File)
Participants carry a portable shrine, or mikoshi, into the sea during a purification rite at the annual Kurihama Sumiyoshi Shrine Festival at Kurihama, Yokosuka city, south of Tokyo, July 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)
Iranian Shiite Muslims mourn in a ceremony on the eve of Ashoura, the death anniversary of Prophet Muhammad's grandson, Hussein, in Tehran Iran, July 5, 2025, (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)
An Aymara Indigenous spiritual guide blesses a statue of baby Jesus with incense after an Epiphany Mass at a Catholic church in La Paz, Bolivia, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Juan Karita, File)
Father Paisios is followed by cats as he walks at the Simonopetra, or Simonos Petra Monastery, home of the all-male autonomous community of Agion Oros, or Holy Mountain, on the peninsula of Mount Athos, in northern Greece, April 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis, File)
Ultra-Orthodox Jewish children dress up in costumes during school ahead of the Jewish holiday of Purim, in Jerusalem, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg, File)
A Christian pilgrim rests her head while praying during Easter Sunday Mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, in Jerusalem's Old City, April 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean, File)
Followers from the Layene brotherhood gather near a sacred grotto where they believe their prophet received divine inspiration, in Ngor, Senegal, Jan. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Annika Hammerschlag, File)
Worshippers gather for Easter Mass inside the ruins of St. George Melkite Catholic Church, damaged by Israeli airstrike, in Dardghaya, southern Lebanon, April 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)
A masked monk stands behind a curtain, assisting a dancer in preparing for a traditional performance, during Gyalpo Losar, the Sherpa community's New Year celebration, at Shechen Monastery, in Kathmandu, Nepal, Feb. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha, File)
Girls, wearing crowns made of flowers, dance during the 'Sanziene' midsummer festival at the Dimitrie Gusti Village Museum, in Bucharest, Romania, June 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru, File)
A woman wades into the waters of Ramirez Beach as part of a ritual honoring the African sea goddess Yemanja, in Montevideo, Uruguay, Feb. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico, File)
Revelers take part in the Devils and Congos Festival, in Portobelo, Panama, May 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix, File)
A portrait of the late Pope Francis is projected onto a water fountain at Magic Water Circuit, in Lima, Peru, April 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia, File)
Pope Leo XIV arrives on his pope mobile before celebrating a Mass for the Jubilee of Families, in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, June 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, File)
A view of the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, File)
The body of Pope Francis is carried into St. Peter's Basilica to lie in state for three days, at the Vatican, April 23, 2025, (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti, File)
A nun holds a photo of Pope Francis while attending his funeral, in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru, File)
Pilgrims ride through dusty terrain, on their way to the shrine of El Rocio during the annual pilgrimage, near Aznalcázar, Spain, June 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti, File)
A reveler holds her dog as she participates in the annual Easter Parade and Bonnet Festival in front of St. Patrick's Cathedral, in New York, April 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki, File)
Greek Orthodox faithful hold up a wooden crucifix after it was retrieved in the Golden Horn during the Epiphany ceremony, in Istanbul, Turkey, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra, File)
People with skull make up on their faces, march during the Paseo de las Animas parade as part of the Day of the Dead celebrations, in Merida, Mexico, Oct. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Martin Zetina, File)
Palestinians sit at a large table surrounded by the rubble of destroyed homes and buildings as they gather for iftar, the fast-breaking meal, as the sun sets, on the first day of Ramadan, in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, March 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana, File)
A man rides a horse through a bonfire as part of a ritual in honor of Saint Anthony the Abbot, the patron saint of domestic animals, in San Bartolome de Pinares, Spain, Jan. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez, File)
Naga Sadhus or Naked Hindu holy men take a bath at the Sangam, the confluence of three sacred rivers the Yamuna, the Ganges and the mythical Saraswati, on Vasant Panchami, during the Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh state, India, Feb. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Channi Anand, File)
