US Catholics want women deacons

VATICAN CITY — A new survey has found that the majority of U.S. Catholic religious orders believe women should be allowed to serve as ordained deacons, lending support to an issue under study at the Vatican amid pressure for women to be given greater roles in the church.

Seventy-seven percent of both male and female superiors in the U.S. believe such ordination is possible, and 72 percent think the church should authorize it, according to the study released Thursday by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University in Washington.

Only 45 percent, however, believe the church will actually do it, the study found.

Currently, married men can serve as deacons. Women cannot.

Pope Francis authorized the creation of a commission to study the role of women deacons in the early church in 2016, responding to a request from the International Union of Superior’s General.

The CARA survey of U.S. religious orders was conducted from January-May and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.55 percentage points. About half of the 777 religious superiors replied to written questions and follow-up from researchers.

The survey found 76 percent of responders believed ordaining women as deacons would benefit the church’s mission. Eighty-four percent believed doing so would increase calls for ordaining women as priests.

From the start, Francis has insisted women must have a greater role in the life and decision-making of the church — while reaffirming they cannot be priests.