Women will never be ordained as priests in Roman Catholic Church - Pope Francis

Pope Francis on Tuesday said the ban on female priest will stand for ever, shattering the dreams of women who aspired to become priests in the Roman Catholic Church.

The Pope who was speaking in a news conference aboard a plane from Sweden to Rome said he believes the ban on women becoming priests was long settled in 1994 by then Pope, John Paul II.

A female Swedish reporter noted that the head of the Lutheran Church who welcomed Pope Francis in Sweden was a woman, and then asked if he thought the Catholic Church could ever allow women to be ordained as ministers.

 

“St. Pope John Paul II had the last clear word on this and it stands, this stands,” Pope Francis responded.

“Forever, forever? Never, never?” the reporter asked.

“If we read carefully the declaration by St. John Paul II, it is going in that direction” Pope Francis said in reference to a 1994 document by Pope John Paul II which ended speculation on female priesthood.

The Vatican believes this teaching is an infallible part of Catholic tradition.