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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
David Crary and Holly Meyer

As US debates gender roles, some women in male-led faiths dig in on social and political issues

Women's Voices-Patriarchal Faiths - (Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

The U.S. feminist movement’s perpetual quest for gender equality has suffered notable setbacks during President Donald Trump’s second term — including the dismantling of various nondiscrimination programs and the ouster of several high-ranking women in the military.

Yet strikingly, outspoken women from the Catholic Church and the ranks of conservative evangelicals are engaging with gusto in ongoing political and social debates even as their faiths maintain longstanding rules against women serving as priests or senior pastors. Many of these women see these ministry barriers as a nonissue.

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