Masked penitents holds their crosses during spring “Romeria Cruceros de Arce”, in Roncesvalles, northern Spain, Sunday, May 10, 2015. Every year on the second Sunday in spring, people with crosses march from their small Pyrenees towns to Roncesvalles Church in tribute of the Virgin. (Photo by Alvaro Barrientos/AP Photo)

People march past the Colosseum during the Gay Pride parade in Rome, Saturday, June 11, 2016. Italy joined the rest of Europe last month in giving some legal rights to gay couples after a years-long battle and opposition from the Catholic Church to anything that smacked of authorizing gay marriage. (Photo by Fabio Frustaci/AP Photo)

Artists watch burning an effigy of Lady Maslenitsa as they celebrate Maslenitsa, or Pancake Week, in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, March 13, 2016. Maslenitsa is widely viewed as a pagan holiday marking the end of winter and is celebrated with pancake eating and shows of strength, while the Orthodox Church considers it as the week of feasting before Lent. (Photo by Shamil Zhumatov/Reuters)

A couple hugs while standing near a Christmas tree made out of plastic bins and plastic hampers outside the Museum of History in Monterrey, Mexico, December 4, 2015. The humble Christmas tree has a rich history, from evergreen trees used to symbolise eternal life in Ancient Egypt to tree worship among pagan Europeans. The modern version has its origins in Germany, where the song “O Tannenbaum” is still a festive favourite. Today the traditional tree with lights and decorations appears in cities including Washington, Moscow and Beirut. Alternative constructions range from recycled rubbish in Mexico City to old window frames in Rakvere, Estonia. Whatever the shape or size, the message is the same: Merry Christmas. (Photo by Neil Hall/Reuters)

A Vietnamese artist acting as a medium, performs the “Hau Dong” ritual at Viet Theatre in Hanoi January 16, 2016. For the first time, Vietnamese drama director Viet Tu has brought the ritual from religious temples to the theatre partly to draw tourists. The “Hau Dong” is a ritual where a medium puts on special costumes and tells stories of gods and heroes while being accompanied by “Chau Van” music, as part of the act of Dao Mau – the worship of mother goddesses in Vietnam. It is believed that the medium is capable of having a direct contact with spirits during the ritual. (Photo by Reuters/Kham)

An Indian Hindu widow smeared with colors sits and watches others playing during Holi celebrations at the Gopinath temple, 180 kilometres (112 miles) south-east of New Delhi, India Monday, March 21, 2016. A few years ago this joyful celebration was forbidden for Hindu widows. Like hundreds of thousands of observant Hindu women they would have been expected to live out their days in quiet worship, dressed only in white, their very presence being considered inauspicious for all religious festivities. (Photo by Manish Swarup/AP Photo)

Costumed dancers parade on the first day of the annual Qoyllur Rit'i festival on May 27, 2018 in Ocongate, Peru. Every year, since 1783 in the Sinakara Valley at the foot of Mt Ausagante, the Qoyllur Rit'i, or “Snow and Star” festival draws tens of thousands of pilgrims from across the Peruvian Andes and beyond to what is the biggest religious gathering of its kind. Since 1780 the event merged into a mosaic of indigenous, pagan and Catholic worship when an image of Jesus appeared on a boulder after the death of a young shepherd. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

A Nepalese Hindu woman receives TIKA on her forehead while praying to Lord Shiva during the first day of the Sarwan Brata festival, which is observed through prayer and a month of fasting, at the Pashupati Temple in Kathmandu, Nepal, 17 July 2023. (Photo by Narendra Shrestha/EPA)