Pope Francis has made it abundantly clear that he doesn’t think women could ever become priests in the Catholic church. But the pope has indicated he’s interested in clarifying whether there’s historical precedent for women to serve as ordained deacons, who can perform some of the duties of a priest.

A new survey of American Catholic women suggests many are ready for that change.

A 60 percent majority of American Catholic women support the possibility of women being ordained as permanent deacons, according to a wide-ranging survey commissioned by America Media and conducted by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University, in partnership with survey firm GfK.

Twenty-one percent of respondents said they may be supportive but wanted to learn more before making a final decision. Only 7 percent definitely said they would not support women being ordained as deacons.

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