The annual pilgrimage to the shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City will instead be held online due to the pandemic. A scholar explains its history and its connection to Mexican people.
Shiite Muslims attend a mourning ritual during the Islamic month of Muharram, in the central shrine city of Karbala.
Photo by Mohammed SAWAF / AFP) (Photo by MOHAMMED SAWAF/AFP via Getty Images
Millions of Muslims travel to Karbala in Iraq for one of the largest annual pilgrimages. The pilgrimage has adapted and changed over its centuries-old history.
Only a handful of tourists at the usually busy St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican.
Vincenzo Pinto/AFP via Getty Images
The pandemic has inspired new forms of pilgrimages – some do-it-yourself, in which people are walking in their backyards or nearby spaces and finding meaning.
People wearing masks and social distancing at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes on May 30, 2020.
Laurent Dart/AFP via Getty Images
Coronavirus is causing religious communities to rethink ways of expressing their faith. In the spirit of finding innovative ways to continue rituals, the pilgrimage to Lourdes was conducted online.
Muslim pilgrims circle round the Kaaba in Mecca in 2019. The numbers will be dramatically reduced in 2020.
EPA
Saudi Arabia is barring international visitors for the hajj. A scholar explains a long history of disease, politics and war that have previously prevented people from making the journey to Mecca.
Before social distancing.
Leonardo da Vinci, Chiesa di Santa Maria delle Grazie
Churches will remain closed over Easter, but theologians have argued over the centuries that faith itself, not ritual, is the heart and soul of Christianity.
Like any other travelers, Muslim pilgrims review their hajj trips on sites like TripAdvisor — usually with extreme enthusiasm.
AP Photo/Khalil Hamra
Millions of Muslims will convene in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on Aug. 9. The annual five-day pilgrimage, known as the hajj, is required of all Muslims who can physically and financially make the journey.
Haiti’s black saint known as Grann Sainte Anne Charitable in her European Catholic form and Ti Saint Anne, in Vodoo form.
Guilberly Louissaint
The annual Jewish pilgrimage of the Ghriba to the island of Djerba used to attract tens of thousands of people. After numbers dwindled in recent years, the 2019 event saw a big increase in visitors.
A person dressed as Santa Claus waves as part of the festivities, during Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York.
Andrew Kelly/Reuters
Lisa Bitel, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
Behind today’s mythical Santa Claus from the North Pole, is a real saint – St. Nicholas. How he came to be today’s gift-giving jolly figure from the North Pole is a fascinating story by itself.
Muslim pilgrims pray at the Grand Mosque, ahead of the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, in August 2017.
AP Photo/Khalil Hamra
Each year, Muslims from all over the world go on a pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia, known as Hajj. A scholar explains its spiritual significance.
Each year, Muslims from all over the world go on a pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia, known as hajj. A scholar explains its spiritual significance.
Thousands of people, both those within Native American communities and their non-Native allies, felt called to go to Standing Rock. What was the motivation?
Senior Research Fellow, Muslim Philanthropy Initiative at IUPUI and Journalist-fellow, Religion and Civic Culture Center, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences