Angeles messengers, a religious association, performs at the Santa Fe international bridge in Juarez, Mexico, with posters trying to give a message of hope against COVID-19.
David Peinado | Pacific Press | Getty Images
Millions are celebrating Easter weekend and Passover separated from their families, friends and religious communities as the coronavirus lays siege on much of the world.
With strict stay-at-home orders, social distancing measures and countrywide lockdowns, the faithful and religious leaders have had to find creative ways to bring their services and communities together in these trying times.
Many religious leaders, including Pope Francis, have moved their weekly services online to observe social distancing. Some have put photos of their congregations in the pews so they could preach to their flock instead of an empty church. Others have offered drive-in Sunday services where congregants stay in their vehicles and hear the service through their radios.
There have even been a few drive-by confessionals set up.
Whatever your faith, this pandemic has undoubtedly had some impact on how and where we observe and worship. The following are images from around the world of religion in the age of coronavirus.
Innsbruck, Austria
Roman-Catholic priest Johannes Laichner spreads incense among photographs of members of his congregation while leading mass during the coronavirus crisis in Tyrol province on April 6, 2020 in Innsbruck, Austria. Laichner has received over 1,000 photographs and attaches them to the benches in his church.
Jan Hetfleisch | Getty Images
Bangkok, Thailand
Buddhist monks wear face shields amid concerns over the spread of the COVID-19 as they collect alms on April 1, 2020 in Bangkok, Thailand.
Allison Joyce | Getty Images
Bowie, Maryland
The Rev. Scott Holmer of St. Edward the Confessor Catholic Church makes the sign of the cross while holding confession in the church parking lot on March 20, 2020 in Bowie, Maryland.
Rob Carr | Getty Images
Jerusalem, Israel
Ultra-Orthodox Jews, wearing the traditional Tallit Jewish prayer shawls, pray along a street outside their closed synagogue in Jerusalem on March 29, 2020, while keeping a distance of two metres from one another following instructions to stop the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
Menahem Kahana | AFP | Getty Images
Mecca, Saudi Arabia
Muslim worshippers circumambulate the sacred Kaaba in Mecca’s Grand Mosque, Islam’s holiest site, on April 3, 2020. Saudi Arabia on April 2 extended curfew restrictions on Islam’s two holiest cities to 24 hours to stem the spread of coronavirus as the number of deaths from the disease rose to 21.
AFP | Getty Images
Louisville, Kentucky
A worshiper listens to a song during the drive in service at On Fire Christian Church on April 05, 2020 in Louisville, Kentucky. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic limiting gatherings of people, churches have responded with alternate ways to have their services.
Andy Lyons | Getty Images
Old City of Jerusalem
A Palestinian man wearing a protective mask as a measure of protection against the coronavirus COVID-19, stands in front of the Dome of the Rock mosque inside the Al-Aqsa mosques compound in the Old City of Jerusalem, ahead of the Friday prayers, on March 6, 2020.
Ahmad Gharabli | AFP | Getty Images
Islamabad, Pakistan
Christian devotees stand in circles marked on the ground to maintain social distancing as they hold palm branches to celebrate a Palm Sunday event at the Christian neighborhood during a government-imposed nationwide lockdown as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 coronavirus, in Islamabad on April 5, 2020.
Aamir Qureshi | AFP | Getty Images
Santa Ana, California
Ed and Maxine Czisny of Newport Beach hold up signs directing church-goers what radio station to tune-in and where to park at a drive-in church service lead by the Rev. Robert A. Schuller in Santa Ana on Sunday, March 29, 2020. Southern California churches are considering drive-in ministry as church buildings remain closed during the coronavirus pandemic.
Leonard Ortiz | Orange County Register | Getty Images
Jaipur, India
Hindu married women offer water to Lord Sun as they perform ritual of Gangaur Festival during the Lockdown imposed in the wake of the deadly novel coronavirus pandemic in Jaipur, Rajasthan,India. March 27,2020.
Vishal Bhatnagar | NurPhoto | Getty Images
Seville, Spain
Agustinian nuns of San Leandro convent, make face masks and health coats instead of their traditional convent cakes called Yemas de San Leandro on April 04, 2020 in Seville, Spain.
Marcelo del Pozo | Getty Images
Brooklyn, New York
Members of the Orthodox Jewish community gather on April 8, 2020 in Brooklyn, New York as the Passover holiday starts Wednesday evening and runs to April 16, 2020. Churches will be empty this Easter and Passover festivities will also take place behind closed doors owing to the COVID-19 lockdown.
Angela Weiss | AFP | Getty Images
Vatican City
A police officer wearing a protective mask stands guard at the Vatican’s Saint Peter’s Square and its main basilica on March 11, 2020 a day after they were closed to tourists as part of a broader clampdown aimed at curbing the coronavirus outbreak.
Andreas Solaro | AFP | Getty Images
Catalania, Italy
Don Piero Belluso, parish priest of the church “Beata Vergine Maria in Cielo Assunta, alla Plaia” celebrates mass via streaming through his mobile phone, in a deserted church, so as to not involve – even at a distance – his parishioners since the emergency Coronavirus on March 20, 2020 in Italy.
Fabrizio Villa | Getty Images
Jerusalem, Israel
Workers sanitise the Western Wall, the most holy site where Jews can pray on March 31, 2020 against the spread of the coronavirus COVID-19 in Jerusalem.
Emmanuel Dunand | AFP | Getty Images
New Delhi, India
A Indian Muslim woman wearing a protective mask leaves after attending congregational Friday prayers at the historic Jama Masjid (Grand Mosque) amid the government imposing restriction on assembly of more than 20 people over the coranavirus threat, on March 20, 2020 in Delhi, India.
Yawar Nazir | Getty Images
San Jose, Costa Rica
Father Victor Jimenez, poses at the Our Lady of Fatima parish church in San Jose, on April 7, 2020 during the novel coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the government of Costa Rica asked that people stay in their homes, and that the churches remain closed. Father Victor Jimenez placed pictures of the parishioners of his church on the pews so they could symbolically and spiritually share mass during Holy Week.
Ezequiel Becerra | AFP | Getty Images
Mount Juliet, Tennessee
Aerial view as Pastor Greg Locke of Global Vision Bible Church holds services in the church parking lot on March 29, 2020 in Mount Juliet, Tennessee. Gov. Bill Lee signed an executive order that prohibits social gatherings of 10 or more in response to coronavirus (COVID-19), which is also recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Brett Carlsen | Getty Images
Rome, Italy
People looks on TV Pope Francis celebrates mass from Santa Marta in Rome, Italy, on March 29, 2020.
Massimo Bertolini | NurPhoto | Getty Images
Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo
The chief pastor of the Protestant church in Goma, Moïse Ndemesi Musekwa, walks in the CBCA church deserted by the faithful on March 22, 2020, in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Alexis Huguet | AFP | Getty Images
Borongan, Philippines
A Roman Catholic priest blesses palm branches occupying church pews during Palm Sunday event in Borongan town, Eastern Samar province, central Philippines on April 5, 2020. Church authorities have asked the catholic faithfuls not to go to churches for the Palm Sunday blessing, but instead to stay in front of their houses as priests will go around their communities for the blessing, to observe social distancing as part of government’s effort to combat COVID 19 pandemic.
Alren Beronio | AFP | Getty Images
Amritsar, India
Devotees, wearing facemasks amid concerns over the spread of the COVID-19 novel coronavirus, arrive to pray at the Golden Temple in Amritsar on March 13, 2020.
Narinder Nanu | AFP | Getty Images
Rome, Italy
A woman prays during the Sunday Holy Mass celebrated by priests from the roof of the church San Gabriele dell’Addolorata in Rome on March 29, 2020, amid the spread of the COVID-19 (new coronavirus) pandemic.
Tiziana Fabi | AFP | Getty Images
New York, New York
Church closing due to the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic on March 18, 2020 in New York City.
Bill Tompkins | Getty Images
