Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York, explained one of the expressions of reverence Catholics make in church — ...

This greeting system, known as proskynesis, was adopted by Alexander the Great when he took over the empire a century later, and some historians believe that genuflection was part of it.

Philosopher Simone Weil, as Martin Steffens recalled, compared genuflection to the act of admitting defeat at the end of a fight, highlighting the symbolic surrender and offering to the divine.