The world turned the page on 2020 last month, but the coronavirus pandemic continued to hold sway over lives, deaths, rituals, ceremonies and prayers, as captured by AP photographers in January.
At a Los Angeles hospital, a chaplain clad in protective gear to safeguard his own health placed his hand on the head of a covid-19 patient in blessing. For the past 11 months, he and others have entered the rooms of the sick and dying to comfort them and reassure them there is nothing to fear.
In Bucharest, Romania, a coffin crowned with red and white flowers and containing the remains of Holocaust survivor Iancu Tucarman, who died of the virus at age 98, was wheeled past an honor guard of uniformed soldiers for burial.
And in Vatican City, St. Peter’s Square stood practically deserted as Pope Francis recited the Angelus noon prayer in his studio instead of at a window overlooking the plaza due to health restrictions.
That was just one of countless rites around the globe altered because of the virus.
In Washington, Joe Biden’s inaugural ceremony outside the Capitol was held in front of a drastically pared-down group of socially distanced attendees, with the new president swearing in on a thick Bible that’s been a “family heirloom” since 1893.
Two weeks earlier, inside the same building, lawmakers wearing face masks bowed their heads for the closing prayer of a joint session of Congress to confirm Electoral College votes — hours after a violent insurrection by rioters bent on overturning Biden’s election.
These and more are among the AP’s top faith-related images from January.
(AP/Evgeniy Sofiychuk)
A man bathes in water during a traditional Epiphany celebration as the temperature dropped to about -11 degrees Fahrenheit near the Achairsky monastery outside Siberian city of Omsk, Russia, on Jan. 19. Water that is blessed by a cleric on Epiphany is considered holy and pure until next year’s celebration, and is believed to have special powers of protection and healing. The Russian Orthodox Church follows the old Julian calendar, according to which Epiphany falls Jan. 19.
(AP/Niranjan Shrestha)
Nepalese Hindu devotees offer prayers along the banks of the Hanumante river during Madhav Narayan Festival in Bhaktapur, Nepal, on Jan. 28. During the festival, devotees recite holy scriptures dedicated to Hindu goddess Swasthani and Lord Shiva. Unmarried women pray to get a good husband while those married pray for the longevity of their husbands by observing a month-long fast.
(AP/Trisnadi)
Relatives weep as they pray during the burial of Fadly Satrianto, a victim of the crash of Sriwijaya Air flight SJ-182 in Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia, on Jan. 15. More searchers and rescuers joined the search for wreckage and victims from the Indonesian plane that crashed in the Java Sea.
(AP/Andrew Medichini)
Priests walk in an empty St. Peter’s Square in front of the Apostolic Palace where Pope Francis is reciting the Angelus noon prayer in his studio at the Vatican on Jan. 17. “I pray for the dead, for the injured and for who lost their home or work,” Francis said following the blessing, delivered from the Apostolic Palace library and not from his usual perch, a window overlooking St. Peter’s Square, due to covid-19 restrictions.
(AP/Mary Altaffer)
The Rev. David R. Steele, associate clergy at Luke’s Episcopal Church, receives the first dose of the covid-19 vaccination at a pop-up vaccination site at St. Luke’s on Jan. 26 in the Bronx borough of New York.
(AP/Jae C. Hong)
A patient holds an Our Lady of Guadalupe card in his bed while talking to chaplain Nancy Many at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in the Mission Hills section of Los Angeles on Jan. 9. As families are barred from visiting loved ones to curb the disease’s spread, chaplains often are there to act as surrogates, holding the hands of the dying, praying with them and carrying iPads into hospital rooms to provide a real-time connection with grieving families.
(AP/Andrew Harnik)
Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., (left) bows his head during a closing prayer of a joint session of the House and Senate to confirm Electoral College votes at the Capitol, early Jan 7 in Washington.
(AP/Yirmiyan Arthur)
A group of Naga girls in traditional attire accompany a bride-to-be, (center) as she leaves her village to travel to the village of her groom, in Shangshak village, in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, on Jan. 15. Nagas are an indigenous people living in several northeastern Indian states and across the border in Myanmar.
(AP/Jae C. Hong)
Chaplain Kevin Deegan places his hand on the head of a covid-19 patient while praying for him at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in the Mission Hills section of Los Angeles on Jan. 9. Deegan’s job, and that of his fellow chaplains at the 377-bed medical center, is to minister to every one of them and also their loved ones. So each day for the past 11 months he has been entering the rooms of the sick and dying clad in a face mask, face shield, gloves and full body cover to pray with them, hold their hands, gently brush their foreheads and reassure them there is nothing to fear.
(AP/Mahmoud Illean)
Men pray on the Mount of Olives overlooking the Dome of the Rock Mosque one the Al Aqsa Mosque compound for Friday prayers in the Old City of Jerusalem on Jan. 22. Many people prayed outside the gates of the Old City, due to coronavirus restrictions on gathering at the mosque compound.
(AP/Vadim Ghirda)
The coffin of Iancu Tucarman is transported on a cart past an honor guard at a Jewish cemetery in Bucharest, Romania, on Jan. 11. Tucarman, one of the last remaining Holocaust survivors in Romania, was buried after dying from covid-19 at age 98.
(AP/Oded Balilty)
A worker from “Hevra Kadisha,” Israel’s official Jewish burial society, dress in full protective gear rests at a special morgue for people who died from covid-19, during a nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus, in the central Israeli city of Holon, near Tel Aviv, Israel, on Jan. 10.
(AP/Markus Schreiber)
Roses with a note saying “#weremember” are seen on the Holocaust Memorial on International Holocaust Remembrance Day in Berlin on Jan. 27.
(AP/Andrew Harnik)
Joe Biden is sworn in as the 46th president of the United States by Chief Justice John Roberts as Jill Biden holds the Bible during the inauguration at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 20 as their children Ashley and Hunter watch.
(AP/Dieu Nalio Chery)
A model wears a creation by Haitian designer Mackenley Darius during a voodoo fashion show in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Jan. 21. Mackenley, a former student of the National School of the Arts, is working to promote with the help of friends, artists and designers, his country’s culture, most especially voodoo, a religion he feels is misunderstood.