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The Pope is address members of the community in one of his many tours around the Vatican City. this is a symbol of unity within the catholic religion as their religious leader addresses them to give them hope and a feeling of self-comfort

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This is a mosque in the middle of the main street of my city- Plovdiv. Plovdiv is in Bulgaria, which is an orthodox country. Inspite of this there are many mosques, not because there are many muslims (there are some of course), but because it was under Ottoman ruling for 5 centuries. I am amzed they didn't destroy all the mosques after the liberation.

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Northern Ireland remains a very divided country in terms of religion. It is a country that would certainly benefit from Secularism in my own opinion.

The image above is the 12th of July Parades which sees (mostly Protestant) people take to the streets and march alongside bands in order to celebrate the revolution against the Catholic Monarchy of the time.

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Orthodox Chapel in the waiting room of the Belorusskiy Railway Station, Moscow

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Orthodox Chapel in the waiting room of the Belorusskiy Railway Station, Moscow

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I think most railway stations in Russia have similar chapels and / or mosques too. I think it's important for religious people before getting on a long way to be able to pray, or to light a candle.

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from Reuters. Nice political statement that changes the meaning of this religious public space. In UK, many feel that Christianity should avoid trappings and become more 'grassroots'.

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a good example of history and religion that is now seen more for its historical aspects rather than a place of religious significance

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I was born in a city called João Pessoa in Brazil (one of the oldest in my country). The city has a lot of influence of the catholic community that came from Portugal, Spain, Netherlands... All old town is full of churchs and monasteries, but now.. during carnival we have parties in front of the church: the holy and the profane. People party during the entire week and on sunday night they go to pray and say sorry for everything. Feels that doesn't actually matter what or where or even when, religious still important even for the ones who dont believe anymore as a sign of respect.

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Catholic figures and Arabic decoration at the same place or building, signs over one’s door/facade of the Seville’s Cathedral

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Catholic figures and Arabic decoration at the same place or building, signs over one’s door/facade of the Seville’s Cathedral

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There’re signs of two religions on this frontage’s door at the Cathedral of Seville, Arabic from Muslim and Catholic from Cristianism. The Arabs conquest and inhabit this region/country (Iberian Peninsula) that they called Al-Andalus also known as Muslim or Arabic Peninsula since the early 8th century until the Conquest of Hispania by the Catholic Kings in 1491 (Granada).

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This is a religious statue located atop the highest hill on the island of Barra, Outer Hebrides, Scotland. I regularly run the island's annual half-marathon race and the 'climb from hell' in the race is up a very steep road stretching from 11-12mls. This statue can be seen by the runners when they reach the top of the hill and for some it undoubtedly gives some inspiration to get them through the remainder of the race!

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A statue of Mary in a pretty little cave by the sea in Palanga, Lithuania. So pretty, religion connected to nature is an amazing sight to look at. As Lithuania is one of the most catholic nations in Europe, religion is present everywhere you go.

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Religion in public spaces in Ireland (2)

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Religion in public spaces in Ireland (2)

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This photo of a one time Christian but now Islamic place of worship on a busy Dublin street is evidence of a growing diversity of religion in Ireland and the desire to share and indeed promote this diversity in public spaces here.

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This is an image of a memorial to 'the fallen' of WW1 in Ireland's largest cemetery in Glasnevin Dublin. It is a clearly Christian memorial.

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In the city I was born, Sete Lagoas/MG, Brazil, there are a lot of religious manifestations in public spaces, but I believe this is the most symbolic, once the church and the Chris's crux are located in the top of the highest hill of the city. The crux gets illuminated at night, showing all citizens the importance of our beliefs.

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Tipical Italian situation: they are afraid of Muslims

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Some people will always be disturbed by what woman wear. So let's not call it secular.

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2016. A group of Muslim women, wearing their headscarves, crosses a street in Brussels. The photo is taken by Daniel Berehulak for The New York Times.

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This church was built by a local landowner where four rural roads meet. It enabled his staff to go to church but without wasting good working time walking into the town to go to the regular church – so the story goes. It might also have been a ‘wee free’ church which broke away from the Church of Scotland in 1843. Evidence probably of conflicting Christian denominations in rural north-east Scotland as well as the structure of society at that time and in this place.

Image by permission of DC Thomson Media, Dundee

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Built where four rural roads meet by the local landowner so that his staff could get to church l

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In 2005, the Golden Temple, the biggest Buddhist temple in Russia, and in Europe, was opened to the public.Built in the capital of the Kalmykia Elista republic, the temple also hosted a statue of the White Old Monk, Kalmyk national god, to commemorate the deportation of the Kalmyk people, the only Buddhist people whose homeland was traditionally in Eu in 1943.

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This crucifix can be seen on many religious buildings throughout Germany. Nevertheless a huge discussion erupted last June when Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder announced that every government related building in Bavaria will be furnished with this crucifix intending to highlight the Christian roots of Bavaria.

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Buddhist stupa at Zalaszanto near lake Balato in Hungar

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Albania

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TH

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It is one of the most ancient crusaders castle and convent in Europe and it belonged to the Knights of the Order of Christ. It is one of the most important icon of Portuguese Christian heritage.

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A little clip of what the SSE Arena in London can also be used for.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-q91CDGuQg

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Colour Conference London 2018 - Highlights

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Catholic monument and mosque in one picture

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Catholic monument and mosque in one picture

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In this photo, you can see the oldtown of a Hungarian town called Pécs, where memories of two major religions, Catholicism and the Islam meet in the form of a statue and the building of a mosque (which is today a Catholic church). Source: Flickr/Thanate Tan

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A symbol of survival after the destruction on World War II

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John 4:14 in the grounds of Chester Cathedral

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John 4:14 in the grounds of Chester Cathedral

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Whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst.

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Religion is taken into the streets and the whole community is involved. People spend the whole year preparing for this.

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There are myriads of orthodox churches in the Greek islands of the Aegean and Ionian Sea. This pic is from Santorini.

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This is my photography of chapel in the woods of High Tatras in Slovakia. It is situated near the lung diseases sanatorium. Its patients often come here to pray, looking for a silent place and inner peace. Its wall is garnished by small marble tables made by people who were treated there as a note of gratitude to Mother Mary, sometimes as a reminder of a person who died there. It is a very beautiful place. Even when one disastrous whirlwind in 2004 destroyed the entire surrounding forest, this chapel remained untouched.

This chapel is a part of our history. Not only history of my country, but also history of my own family. Slovakia is Christian country, not so much like Poland, but still. Although I find a lot of buildings and monuments connected with any religion really beautiful, I think religion has no place in politics and institutions should be as apolitical as possible. Religious symbols such as burkas, crosses, kippahs or any other do NOT belong to the big cities, not mentioning interiors of political institutions. Atheists do not feel a need to show their beliefs – so I do not see why religious people should.

We are "UNITED IN DIVERSITY". We should respect each other, but still also to look for something that connects us instead of to demonstrate our differences.

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There are lot of religions around Europe but the majority is a Christianity.
If i can, i would like to mention my onw story. I was born as a ortodox but in 2013 i decide to change my religion into Islam.
After a change, there were negative and positive comments especially to my family.
Even now i am a muslim, in my oppinion wearing a religious symbols and writting the religion view in the Id card is not ok for me.
But if i need to put myself in these people shoes, maybe it is not ok the state to interfere into the privacy of the individuals.
https://buffalonews.com/2018/02/01/on-wearing-a-hijab-for-a-day-people-look-at-you-differently/

This is a story of a girl that wanted to be accepted in the community and raise the respect of her religious view and way of living.

SLAVICA UZAN

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The Valle de los Caidos in Spain is a big cross in the mountains with a monastery, and a big church. This was built by Spanish republican prisoners in slavery conditions and use for the grave of the Fascist dictator of Spain, Francisco Franco, and the founder of the Spanish fascist party (Falange Española), Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera.

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Easter's celebrations in the streets of Seville (Spain).

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Hare Krishnas are well known for their cheerful kirtans. I have had the chance to see them dancing and singing on the streets in different countries, Switzerland, Germany, Russia and Colombia.

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Thinking about religion in the public space - My mind instantly went back to this moment in time. This is a picture of some women doing the sign of the cross during a Christian Orthodox liturgy at a monastery in Romania. They are dressed in the traditional (folk) wear from the Maramureș region. The reason why I find this picture so revealing of Romania is due to the intertwining of the culture and the religion -- both are associated with following tradition in the public space.

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The petrr on the wall is the 19th oldest building in Britain. It was built for St Cedd in 660ad as his cathedral . It survived for so long because for most of its lifwe it was used as a barn . It was recobcecrated as a chrch in the 1920s. It was built on the site of the Roman fort orthona and is built using the stones from the fort . It is a public religious building but it is also a historical monument.

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Although, I'm not Czech, when the article suggested I may have encountered religion while walking in a forest, I instantly thought of my recent trip to Prague. It was a rather odd, but revitalising experience, to see a depiction of the crucifix atop the hill of Petrin, overlooking the city of Prague.

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Hasids have very special clothes (and usually their appearance is associated with jewish in general, but it's stereotype). These people are religious and it's normal for them to travel in their usual clothes.

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In Polish society, religion is very common in public spaces.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christ_the_King_(%C5%9Awiebodzin)#/media/File%3APomnik_Chrystusa_w_%C5%9Awiebodzinie.jpg

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Church of the14 Saints (Basilica of the Vierzehnheiligen) in Bavaria, Germany.  First time I ever saw a religious example of the Rococo/late Baroque style. Quite over-the-top.  Relatively near to where my father grew up.  Anneliese

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Church of the14 Saints (Basilica of the Vierzehnheiligen) in Bavaria, Germany.  First time I ever saw a religious example of the Rococo/late Baroque style. Quite over-the-top.  Relatively near to where my father grew up.  Anneliese

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The Diwali Festival in London gives a representation of a wider variety of culture in a country which is historically viewed as white christian.

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Despite being essentially known for the Templar castle and other Christian heritage, my hometown still proudly shows its Jewish (we have the oldest Portuguese Sinagogue still standing) and Muslim heritage (like the Noria below)

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Stonehenge is in itself a much debated site, with some disagreement over what its function was, although the idea remains that it was a religious site of some sorts.  But many gather to celebrate the summer solstice there.

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Shrines like this one can be seen all over the city, outside churches and private buildings. Although Spain is fairly secular these days (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_attendance) these shrines, along with celebrations like Carnaval, are a reminder of Spain's Catholic heritage.

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Every July the Protestant Orthodoxy commemorate their Christian faith with a march celebrating a battle from the 17th century, a feud between protestant and catholic interests over the occupancy of the throne.

Glasgow is a very tolerant city but the annual march carries heightened tensions between the 2 sects.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-33394198

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This photo was taken immediately after the recent attack on London bridge; I was near by celebrating a wedding. The photo was used by Russian propaganda (fake news) to say the Muslim lady was callously walking by while others tried to help. In fact she was traumatised.

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Bajada de la Virgen de los Reyes. Every 4 years we take this statue to visit different parishes. This involves a lot of walking through beautiful scenery. It is a major cultural event of these islands. I don´t think it is necessary to be religious in order to respect, appreciate and enjoy such an event. I had a great time anyway.

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Tibetan monks in Brussels. It took some searching to find religion depicted in public spaces that wasn’t Islamic focused. I chose to not post an Islamic picture because, while Islam in Europe is being debated heavily, other religions also coexist in Europe.

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This is our local church.  The car park was not surfaced when the church was built.  The local Council agreed to surface the car park so that people visiting the local shops would have somewhere to park during the week.
So the church car park is a public car park.
Anne Mills, UK

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The burkini was banned in some towns in the south of France, because it conflicts with the idea of secularism; the french believe that religion should play no part in public life, an idea which I share.

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It is impossible to throw a rock in Japan without hitting a shrine that is older than the entire neighhood. Most people consider themselves non-religeous but will often participate in regular festivals and go to pray at odd hours of the day at their local shrine.

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See all the wonderful things Janete Antonia Pellisson has made

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Charismatic Movements in Brazil have being growing a lot in recent years.

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Charismatic Movements in Brazil have being growing a lot in recent years.

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Catholich Church is very strong in Brazil.

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Catholich Church is very strong in Brazil.

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Candomblé is an African religion with many followers in Brazil.

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Candomblé is an African religion with many followers in Brazil.

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https://goo.gl/images/X17ioD
https://goo.gl/images/0YFl9W

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Located in Glasgow city centre, the church is home to both Gaelic and English speaking congregations. They have a protestant community and culture that comes together in the city, which can be sectarian at times due to football loyalties and religious division.

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Sergio Hernández Quintero, visting Vienna, Austria, you can find wonderful religious temples like this.

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SOLEADA Y GÉLIDA MAÑANA EN VIENA (AUSTRIA)

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The Ascension Cathedral is a Russian Orthodox church in Novocherkassk, Rostov Oblast, Russia. It used to be one of the largest churches of the Russian Empire and the main church of the Don Host Province.

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The burkini was invented by and Australian Muslim woman named Aheda Zanetti.
It tackles religious/ cultural aspects of a muslim Australian woman's life. A few people have posted pictures of the woman who was made to remove her burkini in Callas. One aspect I was shocked about, that was barely brought up on the subject, is the skin care factor. Australians are big on skincare in the sun. Telling someone to remove their clothing while out in the sun is horrendous. Religious aspect connotations or not.

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The plantation respects the Faith.

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Cagliari's main religion is catholicism. However, a part of the new migrant community is Muslim, so this religion added itself in the social tissue of the city, together with other religions (for instance, orthodox christianity and Hare Krishna). The 'mosque' is an old building in one of the historical neighbourhoods of the city, Marina, now become one of the most multicultural and lively of the city. The mosque is not a mosque, and the requests to have a proper building to pray and meet has been ostracied by the conservative parts of the city. The result is the one depicted by the photo: the muslim community has to pray on the street (which at least has been pedestrianised by the current centre-left city administration), no matter it is 40 degrees or 10 degrees, there is sun or it is raining. The first time I saw the Friday preach, I was struck: I always walked on the street, and never had I thought it could have also this 'image'. That's one problem I see in my city: it is as if there were at least two cities, that of the 'native inhabitants' and that of refugees and migrants - two parallel cities, where the first and most priviledged is not interested in knowing the other. The issue of the muslim community and the mosque should be read under this light, of this 'tale of two cities'. The photo was taken by Monica Magro for Tiscali.

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Every year during Holy Week in Spain, sculptures with images about the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ cross the streets accompanied by thousands of people. The photo corresponds to the procession of a crucified Christ in Malaga.

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This cross stands in our Market town during Easter.It's a Christian symbol but the flowers may have a pre Christian resonances.

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My village church - only used for weddings and funerals!

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Main square in little town of Hrvatsko Zagorje- Pregrada (Croatia)

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Main square in little town of Hrvatsko Zagorje- Pregrada (Croatia)

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This is street art mural by Jorit Agoch. It is painted on a building in the ancient heart of Naples and it represents San Gennaro, the patron saint of Naples. The population is deeply devoted to him.

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Muslim girls at a religious freedom protest in France.

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I live near Lâm Tế Temple (Rinzai cult), a typical Budhist temple of the Northern school of the Zen sect on Nguyễn Trãi Street,  District 1 of Hochiminh City. The temple was built in 1973, The picture hereunder shows the triple gate (representing sun (middle gate), moon and star), the banner above the gate celebrating Ullambana festival (a pious tradition towards one’s parents on the fifteenth day of the seventh month lunar calendar) ,  a distich (parallel verses) on both sides of the main gate generalizing the Rinzai theme of education (striking and screaming at the right time), international buddhist flag on the left and Vietnam national flag on the right, symbolising the Vietnam Buddhist motto of Dharma – Nation – Socialism.

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people gathered in the graduation program of student in Masque.

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This is what I found about religion in our digital world in our own domain

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These days, scenes such as this from my home town Birmingham (UK) mean more to me than religious buildings, which are often gloomy and restrictive. This is a canal scene, so it's man-made, but it blends with natural growth beautifully.

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Religious symbols are everywhere, so much so that you forget their religious connotation. If you had asked me half an hour ago whether I have anything religious in my home, I’d have said “no, of course not!” And then I realised that I do.

As I live far from home, people have given me gifts down the years with Irish-Celtic designs. There are two bronze Celtic crosses, a plaque with a design from the Book of Kells (an ancient transcription of the gospels) and a shamrock (which St. Patrick is said to have used to explain the Christian doctrine of the trinity), a little bronze illustration of St. Brendan the Navigator (reputed to have sailed to North America in the 6th Century, and a bronze copy of a figure from the Book of Kells, which is the item I have photographed. All of these are in the very room where I now sit.

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What I particularly like about this picture is that the space this building occupies has had a longstanding religious connection within the town of Rotherham. The building that previously occupied this site was a small Unitarian Chapel which was deemed too small for it's congregation The current building you see in the picture was built on the same site in 1879 & was named The Church of our Father. By the late C20th it had become a Jame Masjid mosque and you can see indications of this in the external architectural fittings. This building reflects the changing nature of religion in Europe but how a sacred space can transcend both time, culture, history & religion.

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This is a church about 500 metres from where I live, which I pass most days. It was built about 150 years ago before our area was greater London suburban. It would have been a little village church then. I hardly think of it as a religious symbol but much more as a symbol of a past era, rural life than is now gone. I feel affection towards it, although it is not a place of worship I use, just a nice building

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Strasbourg Cathedral, close up of a door.

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Strasbourg Cathedral, close up of a door.

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Bremhill Parish Church This is a fairly typical parish church in England. Usually they are the oldest buildings in the town or village. Often they are also the tallest and in a prominent position. This one has a graveyard around it that is still in use.

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This is a very common sight in the Costco I frequent. Definitely gawked at by many, but have every right to be there.

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The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster is currently fighting legal battles against its suppression by the German state and large state-co-funded churches. In Brandenburg,

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Brother Spaghettus had a bad day on Wednesday. A court in the eastern city of Frankfurt an der Oder announced that his religion, the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, had no right to hang official signs at the entrances to the town of Templin, Brandenburg, giving information about their weekly services, next to those of the local Catholic and Protestant churches.

"The suit has been denied," Judge Sabine Selbig said in court. "It does not depend on whether the organization is a world-view community or not."

The judge ruled that the government of the state of Brandenburg had legitimately overruled a verbal agreement to allow the four signs, which Brother Spaghettus, aka Rüdiger Weida, chairman of the religious society, had made with Templin mayor Detlef Tabbert in December 2014.

The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster existed in secret for hundreds of years, it claims

Weida was defiant after the ruling was announced on Wednesday. "We completely expected this verdict," he told DW. "The next step is we're going to take it to a higher state court."

Equal rights

Weida, who answers all questions with scrupulous earnestness, was disappointed with the way the court treated the case. "Our impression was that the judge was not in the slightest interested in engaging with the substance of the case, and dismissed it merely as a formality," he said. "And she was completely wrong, and that's why we see good chances for our appeal."

Weida also said his church intended to sue the local road authority for "attempted collusion" in the trial for making false claims about the church.

For the Brandenburg Infrastructure Ministry, on the other hand, the case is straightforward. "The question was whether the group is a religious group or not," spokesman Steffen Streu told DW. "As far as the road signs are concerned, there are clear rules - a recognized religious community is allowed to do that."

Weida was offended by the implicit discrimination in this point of view. "For us these signs are simply to be taken for granted," he said. "We are just as serious as every other religion, and we want to be able to articulate ourselves just as seriously. We consider it completely unreasonable that other views of the world in Germany get special privileges. If someone has privileges, it always means that someone else is discriminated against."

A new creationism

The Flying Spaghetti Monster was born in Kansas, in the US, in 2005, when "concerned citizen" Bobby Henderson wrote an open letter to the state's school board after it decided that "intelligent design" should be taught as an alternative theory to evolution on the school curriculum.

Henderson argued that it wasn't fair to only allow schools to teach just one creationist theory, and claimed that he, and "many others around the world," believed that a Flying Spaghetti Monster had created the universe.

Churches are allowed to hang up official notices in Germany

The letter went on to briefly explain the theory, and claim that the Flying Spaghetti Monster manipulated any scientific evidence that appeared to contradict it with "His Noodly Appendage."

By 2006, the Flying Spaghetti Monster was not in Kansas anymore. Churches were formed all over the world, including the only German one in Templin, where the chief Pastafarian Minister, Rüdiger Weida, leads a "noodle mass" for his congregation of five people every Friday ("Our god was faster than other gods, and he finished with the creation of the Earth earlier, and that's why we have to rest on Friday already. We consider it a kind of discrimination that we have to work on Friday and that our children have to go to school," he said).

The services are similar to those of the Catholic church. They begin with a joint profession of faith, sing hymns, and take communion. "But our communion does not consist of flesh and blood, but from noodles from His noodly appendages and beer from His beer volcano," said Weida.

The church also has relics, including a pirate flag, but that is not the most important.

"Our most holy relic is a multiple miracle - it's a closed bottle of white rum that someone brought to our pirate meeting," explained Weida. "There we simply forgot to drink it - that was the first miracle, that a bottle of rum stayed closed among pirates, the second miracle was that a pirate brought it to the next meeting, and the third miracle was that it wasn't drunk then either. After that we saw that it was a sign that this bottle must never again be opened."

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Quirky church, Flying Spaghetti Monster, hits court wall | DW | 13.04.2016

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Brother Spaghettus had a bad day on Wednesday. A court in the eastern city of Frankfurt an der Oder announced that his religion, the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, had no right to hang official signs at the entrances to the town of Templin, Brandenburg, giving information about their weekly services, next to those of the local Catholic and Protestant churches.

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This is the picture I took in the Church of the Savior on Blood in St.petersburg this summer,

Eastern Orthodox Church

always give me the mysterious feeling, and when I entered the churches in Russia, I was told I need something to cover my head as I am a girl, this is their tradition, and I think women with headscarves are really attractive :)

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A beautiful structure in Bolton, a traditional town in the north of England. It is an area many Muslims have settled in, which unfortunately isn't appreciated by many.

I however, love to see sights like this, and the people who make an area diverse.