Religious services, sacred ceremonies take place globally under shadow of Covid-19

The man stood in front of the Christ the Redeemer statue in a hazmat suit, gloves, respirator and goggles. 2 soldiers wearing face masks bowed their heads solemnly. This is what faith looks like in the summer of Covid — or winter, of course, in Rio and other Southern Hemisphere locales. (AP)

For the last three weeks, Father Ayala in in Chia, Colombia, has been celebrating Mass in the parking lot of the city's former horse racing track, now a venue that has been mostly used for concerts, movies, theater, and other outdoor presentations. (AP)

Mohammed Moussa prays on a makeshift bed outside his home, destroyed in the August 4 explosion, in Beirut, Lebanon. (AP)

Orthodox nuns wearing masks as a measure of prevention against the spread of the coronavirus walk in a procession to bring the icon of the Virgin Mary from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to the tomb where she is believed to be buried, outside of the Lions' Gate to Jerusalem's Old City. (AP)

After the gap of almost 5 months, Friday prayers were organised inside the Grand Mosque as shrines and other religious places across the Jammu and Kashmir reopened for devotees on Sunday after remaining closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (AP)

Nuns wave to Pope Francis as he recites the Angelus noon prayer from the window of his studio overlooking St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican. (AP)

People pray as paper lanterns float along the Motoyasu River in front of the Atomic Bomb Dome in Hiroshima, western Japan. Japan marked the 75th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. The official lantern event was canceled to the public due to coronavirus. (AP)

People visit St. Savior in Chora church, known as Kariye in Turkish, in Istanbul. Turkey on Friday formally converted former Byzantine church, St Savior in Chora, into a mosque, a month after it similarly turned Istanbul's landmark Hagia Sophia into a Muslim house of prayer, drawing international rebuke. (AP)

Pilgrims crawl in front of the Holy Church of Panagia of Tinos, on the Aegean island of Tinos, Greece. For nearly 200 years, Greek Orthodox faithful have flocked to Tinos for the August 15 feast day of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, the most revered religious holiday in the Orthodox calendar after Easter. But this year there was no procession due to coronavirus. (AP)