This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.
Pope Leo XIV arrives, with bishops and cardinals in a penitential procession marking the start of the Catholic Lent, at the Basilica of Santa Sabina in Rome, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026, where he will preside over Ash Wednesday Mass. (AP Photo/Riccardo De Luca)The shadow of the crucifix surmounting his pastoral staff falls across Pope Leo XIV as he presides over Ash Wednesday Mass, marking the start of Catholic Lent, inside the Basilica of Santa Sabina in Rome, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)Erica Smeltzer looks up in the pew after receiving ashes during an Ash Wednesday Mass at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle, Wednesday, Feb., 18, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)Nuns attend Ash Wednesday Mass after getting the form of a cross marked on their foreheads at the Divine Child Church in Bogota, Colombia, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026, the start of the Christian season of Lent, a period of penitence and reflection that leads up to Easter. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)Catholic Sacristan Santiago Moreno, center, Sister Diva Camacho, right, and Lay Minister Yolanda Carrillo prepare ashes that will mark people’s foreheads during Ash Wednesday Mass at the Divine Child Church in Bogota, Colombia, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026, the start of the Christian season of Lent, a period of penitence and reflection that leads up to Easter. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)Catholic Priest Oscar Olano gets ready to celebrate Ash Wednesday Mass at the Divine Child Church in Bogota, Colombia, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026, the start of the Christian season of Lent, a period of penitence and reflection that leads up to Easter. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)Father Fabian Arias holds a bottle of ash during Ash Wednesday outside the Jacob K. Javits federal building, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)Parishioners depart following an Ash Wednesday Mass at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle, Wednesday, Feb., 18, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)A parishioner kneels during prayer, during an Ash Wednesday Mass at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle, Wednesday, Feb., 18, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)Father Fabian Arias places an ash cross on the forehead of a devotee during Ash Wednesday outside the Jacob K. Javits federal building, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)Father Fabian Arias waits for a devotee to place an ash cross on the forehead during Ash Wednesday outside the Jacob K. Javits federal building, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)Catholic faithfuls takes holy communion during Ash Wednesday Mass at the church of the Assumption Falomo in Lagos, Nigeria, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)Catholic faithfuls with the sign of the cross in ash made on their forehead, takes a selfie and sing after a Mass to mark the beginning of Ash Wednesday at the church of the Assumption in Lagos, Nigeria, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)Parishioners depart following an Ash Wednesday Mass at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle, Wednesday, Feb., 18, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)Salesian Priest Martin Mendoza marks a cross on a student forehead during Ash Wednesday Mass at the Juan de el Rizzo Salesian School in Bogota, Colombia, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026, the start of the Christian season of Lent, a period of penitence and reflection that leads up to Easter. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)A parishioner prays after receiving ashes on Ash Wednesday in Mexico City, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)Ella Morone receives ashes during an Ash Wednesday Mass at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle, Wednesday, Feb., 18, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)A cross is carried during an Ash Wednesday Mass at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle, Wednesday, Feb., 18, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)Lorraine Simmons, right, Sacristan of The Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine, distributes “Ashes To Go” for Ash Wednesday at a subway stop on New York’s Upper West Side, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
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