AP PHOTOS: Around the world, spiritual rituals and ceremony
A child clasped his hands together prayerfully alongside his mother at a ceremony observing the Martyrdom Day of the fifth Sikh guru, Arjan Dev Ji, in Pakistan.
A worshipper wearing a face mask to protect him from the coronavirus carried a goat as an offering to Hindu gods at the smoking crater of Mount Bromo, an active volcano in Indonesia.
Palestinian women touched the head and face of one of their own in consolation at a funeral in the West Bank for a security officer shot dead by Israeli forces.
Images captured by AP photographers around the world in June illustrated the ways people everywhere seek spiritual sustenance in ritual and ceremony.
Sometimes it was to come together in grief, as with the dozens of mourners at an outdoor funeral where Canadian flags covered the coffins of four family members run over by a truck in what police say was a premeditated attack because they were Muslim.
But it was a more joyful occasion at the Sri Venkateswara Temple in Pennsylvania, the United States´ oldest Hindu shrine, where devotees lined up on its immaculately landscaped grounds to go inside following the final rituals of the Maha Kumbhabhishekam rededication ceremony.
Palestinian women mourn during the funeral of a Palestinian security officer, Tayseer Issa, in the West Bank city of Jenin, Thursday, June 10, 2021. Israeli troops shot and killed three Palestinians, including two security officers, in a shootout that erupted in the West Bank town of Jenin during what appeared to be an Israeli arrest raid overnight, Palestinian officials said. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
On the outskirts of Addis Ababa, flickering candles lit up the faces of young Ethiopian Orthodox Christians celebrating the Feast of St. Michael, during which priests prayed for peace in the country and in its upcoming election.
And at Corpus Christi celebrations in Venezuela, penitents donned elaborate devil masks for a Carnival-like ritual dance to atone for misdeeds and ask for relief from physical ailments.
These and more are among the AP´s top faith-related images from the month.
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A Sikh child stands beside his mother attending a ceremony to observe the Martyrdom Day of Guru Arjan Dev Ji, at Gurudwara Dera Sahib, in Lahore, Pakistan, Wednesday, June 16, 2021. Hundreds of Sikh pilgrims are attending the 415th anniversary of the death of the fifth Sikh Guru, Arjan Dev Ji, that is celebrated in Derah Sahib. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
A worshipper carries a goat as an offering at the crater of Mount Bromo during Yadnya Kasada festival in Probolinggo, East Java, Indonesia, Saturday, June 26, 2021. Every year people gather for the annual festival where offerings of rice, fruit, vegetables, livestock or money are made to Hindu gods at the active volcano to ask for blessings and assure a bountiful harvest. (AP Photo/Trisnadi)
Pope Francis meets Spider-Man, who presents him with his mask, at the end of his weekly general audience with a limited number of faithful in the San Damaso Courtyard at the Vatican, Wednesday, June 23, 2021. The masked man works with sick children in hospitals. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Woodridge residents Tom and Maria Bonifield sit in a park outside St. Scholastica Catholic Church after a tornado ripped through their neighborhood early Monday morning, June 21, 2021, in Woodridge, Ill. (Rich Hein/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)
Lava flows from the erupting crater of Mt. Etna, Europe's largest active volcano, framing the church of S. Maria della Provvidenza, in Zafferana Etnea, near Catania, in southern Italian island of Sicily, early Thursday, June 24, 2021. Since Feb. 16, 2021, Mt. Etna has begun a series of spectacular eruptive episodes. (AP Photo/Salvatore Allegra)
Christian musicians, wearing protective face masks amid the new coronavirus pandemic, perform to promote their religion on a street in El Alto city, Bolivia, Saturday, June 5, 2021. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
A man holds his devil mask as he prepares to take part in the Corpus Christi celebrations in San Francisco de Yare, Venezuela, Thursday, June 3, 2021, amid the coronavirus pandemic. The Carnival-like dance, in which the devils pay penance and ask for relief from physical ailments, symbolizes the ongoing struggle between good and evil. The tradition dates to 1742, when liberal priests in Venezuela used it to include African slaves who were not permitted to worship in the same church as their white masters. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Members of Synagogue Church Of All Nations, mourn following the death of the founder T.B. Joshua, outside the church in Lagos, Nigeria Sunday, June 6, 2021. Temitope Balogun Joshua, one of Africa's most popular televangelists who was known as T.B. Joshua, has died. He was 57. (AP Photo)
Devotees line up to enter the Sri Venkateswara Temple following the final rituals of Maha Kumbhabhishekam, the Hindu rededication ceremony in Penn Hills, Pa., Sunday, June 27, 2021. Built in the 1970s, Built in the 1970s, the Sri Venkateswara Temple is the oldest major Hindu temple in the country. Maha Kumbhabhishekams occur about every 12 years and involve ceremonies to reenergize the temple and its deities. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
Mourners pray as caskets draped in Canadian flags are lined up at a funeral for the four Muslim family members killed in a deadly vehicle attack, at the Islamic Centre of Southwest Ontario in London, Ontario, on Saturday, June 12, 2021. Talat Afzaal, 74, her son Salman Afzaal, 46, his wife Madiha Salman, 44, and their 15-year-old daughter Yumna Salman all died last Sunday night while out for a walk after a man in a truck ran over them in what police have called a premeditated attack because they were Muslim. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP, Pool)
A woman places a cotton ball on her arm after she was vaccinated with a dose of the Cuban Abdala COVID-19 vaccine while nuns walk around the recovery room in Havana, Cuba, Wednesday, June 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
Young Ethiopian Orthodox Christians hold candles to celebrate the festival of Senay Mikael, or the Feast of St. Michael, as they sit outside the St. Michael church in the Intoto neighborhood on the outskirts of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Saturday, June 19, 2021. As well as celebrating the festival, the priests prayed for peace in the country and in the upcoming election. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Red Cross health workers attend a man on hunger strike as he occupies with others the Saint-Jean-Baptiste-au-Beguinage church in Brussels, Monday, June 7, 2021. Dozens of migrants without official papers and who have been occupying the church since last February, with permission of the priest, has began a hunger strike since 23 May to draw the attention of Brussels authorities to their plight. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
A priest performs exorcism on a Hindu devotee on the banks of the Sangam, the confluence of rivers Ganges, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati, during Ganga Dussehra, in Prayagraj, India, Sunday, June 20, 2021. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
A man in a devil costume crawls on his knees toward a church as he pays a penance as part of celebrations of the Catholic holiday of Corpus Christi in Naiguata, Venezuela, Thursday, June 3, 2021. Carrying masks of animals and sea monsters, residents of all ages went out to dance in the ancient ritual known as Dancing Devils that symbolizes the triumph of good over evil. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
Married Hindu women perform rituals around a Banyan tree on Vat Savitri festival in Ahmedabad, India, Thursday, June 24, 2021. Vat Savitri is celebrated on a full moon day where women pray for the longevity of their husbands. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)
The moon rises over the cross of St. Joseph Church in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, June 25, 2021. (AP/Photo/Hadi Mizban)
