Father Angel (L), parish priest of San Anton Church blesses a dog during the celebrations of San Anton in Madrid, Spain on January 17, 2018. (Photo by Fernando Alvarado/EFE via ZUMA Press)

A Catholic faithful fancy dressed as a “talciguin” -character of the local folklore- takes part in the celebration of an ancient local tradition that marks the start of Holy Week, in Texistepeque, some 80 km west of San Salvador, on April 15, 2019. Talciguines are devils who “lash” Catholic faithfuls to cleanse their sins. (Photo by Marvin Recinos/AFP Photo)

Local priests celebrate the “Aimara New Year”, an Andean Bolivian traditional festival that marks the winter solstice in El Alto, Bolivia, 21 June 2016. Aimara or Aymara means the Return of the Sun. (Photo by Martin Alipaz/EPA)

Chief priest Gbenga Saala raises a cutlass to kill a dog during an annual prayer and sacrifice celebration of the iron god Ogun in Abuja, Nigeria, June 23, 2015. Every year worshippers offer a dog as sacrifice to Ogun, a traditional Nigerian deity, in hope of an auspicious year ahead. Taxi drivers, blacksmiths, panel beaters and mechanics – trades that depend on metal for their livelihood – pay homage to Ogun, led by high priest Gbenga Saala. As part of the ceremony, the priest pours the dog’s blood on symbols of these workers’ trade: keys, spanners and other tools piled up in a metal barrel. (Photo by Afolabi Sotunde/Reuters)

A lightning strikes St Peter's dome at the Vatican on February 11, 2013. Pope Benedict XVI announced today he will resign as leader of the world's 1.1 billion Catholics on February 28 because his age prevented him from carrying out his duties – an unprecedented move in the modern history of the Catholic Church. (Photo by Filippo Monteforte/AFP Photo)

Satarupa Chakraborty, 5, dressed as a Kumari, yawns while she is worshipped by a Hindu priest during the religious festival of Durga Puja in Agartala October 2, 2014. (Photo by Jayanta Dey/Reuters)

A priest sprinkles holy water at a cat at a drive-through pet blessing, ahead of World Animal Day, at a mall in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines on October 2, 2022. (Photo by Lisa Marie David/Reuters)

A girl takes a nap during a Christmas eve mass at a Catholic church on the outskirts of Taiyuan, North China's Shanxi province, December 24, 2016. (Photo by Jason Lee/Reuters)