REL--Patriarchal Faiths-Women's Roles, Advisory

EDITORS:

Around the world, women have been making notable advances in many realms, serving as heads of government, leading corporations and universities. Yet in several major religious denominations, women are barred or limited from serving as clergy and excluded from the uppermost leadership roles.

Nonetheless, hundreds of millions of women are devoted to these male-led faiths, and some - often breaking barriers along the way - have found leadership roles they can play. The Associated Press and Religion News Service have teamed up to produce a series of eight stories portraying some of these women and the faiths they embrace. Each story is accompanied by photos; a few of them by videos as well.

The final four stories in the series will be running Monday and Tuesday. Here's the schedule:

Monday, Dec. 13:

Patriarchal Faiths-Women's Roles-Southern Baptists

Women in the Southern Baptist Convention are not able to be senior pastors. But despite the limitations, some have carved out leadership roles and positions of influence in ministry, seminaries, on convention boards, within their congregations, as pastor's wives and more. By Bob Smietana of Religion News Service and Holly Meyer of The Associated Press.

Patriarchal Faiths-Women's Roles-Hindus

In Hinduism, there are few women among pandits, the priests who perform Hindu religious rituals. But those who study the religion and its traditions say women in Hinduism globally are taking on leadership roles in other ways -- creating communities and passing on knowledge. By Deepti Hajela of The Associated Press.

Tuesday, Dec. 14:

Patriarchal Faiths-Women's Roles-Orthodox Judaism

Reform and Conservative Jewish movements have ordained women as rabbis for decades. But only recently has the Orthodox tradition begun tapping women for leadership roles, a striking change in a faith that seats men and women in separate sections during worship. By Yonat Shimron of Religion News Service and Ilan Ben-Zion of The Associated Press.

Patriarchal Faiths-Women's Roles-Mormons

SALT LAKE CITY - Women in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are not filling leadership positions traditionally held by men, but their roles in the church are expanding, and they're getting more speaking time during the church's worldwide conferences. By Lindsay Whitehurst and Holly Meyer of The Associated Press.

Four other stories ran last week. They can be viewed here: https://apnews.com/hub/women-in-religion

Wednesday, Dec. 8:

Patriarchal Faiths-Women's Roles-Catholics: Women remain barred from the Roman Catholic priesthood. But worldwide they're filling more and more leadership roles within the church.

Patriarchal Faiths-Women's Roles-Islam: Women don't lead mixed-gender congregational prayers in traditional Muslim settings, but many see other paths to leadership.

Thursday, Dec. 9

Patriarchal Faiths-Women's Roles-Black Churches: Women are still the exception at the top rungs of leadership among historically Black Protestant denominations and church organizations in the United States.

Patriarchal Faiths-Women's Roles-Buddhism: Buddhist women have challenged longstanding patriarchal traditions and blazed a path of progress in recent decades,

The Conversation, a partner of the AP and Religion News Service, is running analyses by academic experts of women's evolving leadership in these faiths. These articles are being published in tandem with the AP/RNS stories and will be available on the AP's religion hub. For a list of stories, visit https://memberservices.theconversation.com/religion/women-lead.php

Any questions should be directed to David Crary, director of AP's Global Religion Team, at dcrary@ap.org