The Catholic Church's insistence that it cannot ordain women to the priesthood and episcopacy is a teaching likely to last forever, Pope Francis said.
Pope Francis was asked during a airborne news conferences on Nov. 1 by a reporter if the Catholic Church might one day have women priests and bishops, reported CNS.
The pope responded by saying the question was settled in 1994 by St. John Paul II, who taught that because Jesus chose only men as his apostles, the ordination of women in the Catholic Church is not possible.
He was asked, "Really? Never?" And he responded, "If one carefully reads the declaration of St. John Paul, it goes in that direction, yes."