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In Christianity, the sacred ceremony of baptism is symbolized by the pouring or sprinkling of water on the head or by immersion in water. Baptisms, whether of adults or infants, make for fascinating and moving spectacles, and take place all over the world.

Browse this gallery and take a look at these extraordinary images of people undertaking the very wet rite of admission into the Christian Church.

▲An Iraqi Mandean leader performs a baptism ritual ceremony on a fellow member, this off the banks of Tigris river in Baghdad.

▲A chaplain aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson baptizes a crew member on deck.

▲Three babies are baptized during a baptism ceremony in the town of Mtskheta, outside Tbilisi.

▲A child cries as he is baptized in a Catholic church in the village of Marti, located in Matanzas province, central Cuba.

▲An orthodox priest baptizes a man in the Black Sea during a ceremony marking the adoption of Christianity in the town of Yevpatoria, Crimea.

▲A Yazidi priestess baptizes a baby with springwater at their religion's most holy temple in the Nineveh Province village of Lalish.

▲A man clutches a crucifix during a ritual baptism ceremony in the Jordan River near Jericho.

▲A Christian pilgrim dips in the water at the baptismal site known as Qasr el-Yahud on the banks of the River Jordan, which also acts as a border line near the West Bank city of Jericho.

▲Clutched by his proud parents, a child is baptized at a Catholic church in Havana.

▲A baby is baptized during a mass baptism ceremony on Epiphany day in Tbilisi.

▲An Orthodox priest baptizes a baby at a church inside the Doctor Voino-Yasenetsky Saint Luka train, which serves as a free consultative and diagnostic medical center, at Divnogorsk railway station near Krasnoyarsk.

▲An Orthodox Christian man retrieves a wooden crucifix ahead of other participants from the Bosphorus river near Istanbul during a ceremony celebrating the baptism of Jesus Christ.

▲The Pope baptizes a sleeping baby during a mass in the Sistine Chapel.

▲Pictured are pilgrims at the baptism ceremony for newcomers into the Naga sect during the Kumbh Mela Hindu pilgrimage on the Ganges, near Haridwar.

▲A follower jumps into the waters of the Fasilides Bath as part of a ceremony in which the waters are blessed by the priest of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church during the second day of Timket, in Gondar.

▲Priests of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church baptize a baby in the Medhane Alem Cathedral in Addis Ababa.

▲Soaked and surprised, an infant is hoisted in the air after being baptized.

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An Orthodox priest baptizes a boy in the Siberian village of Sukhobuzimskoye during a ceremony marking the anniversary of the Christianization of Russia.

▲An elderly Orthodox Christian woman takes part in a traditional baptism ceremony in the Jordan River near the northern city of Tiberias.

▲Wide-eyed with bewilderment, a baby boy reacts during his baptism.

▲A priest baptizes a woman during a ceremony in the Black Sea marking the Christianization of Ukraine, which was previously known as Kyivan Rus'.

▲The Pope baptizes a baby during a ceremony in the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City.

▲People take part in a mass baptism ceremony organized by Ukrainian evangelists and protestants in the waters of Kyiv's Dnipro river.

▲A Baptist chaplain baptizes a US marine after a protestant Sunday service at a base in northern Kuwait.

▲A Christian pilgrim reacts after being baptized in the Jordan River near the northern Israeli city of Tiberias.

▲An Orthodox Christian takes a relaxing baptismal bath in water drawn from the Jordan River.

▲Christian pilgrims stand in the Jordan River during a baptism ceremony near Tiberias.

▲A priest splashes water at a believer during a baptizing ceremony for Mandaen followers on the Lek river near Houten.

▲The elaborate baptism of a baby in the country's capital, Minsk.