Pope: Female Priest Ban May Be Forever

The pope on Tuesday said the Roman Catholic Church ban on women priests may last forever. Pope Francis, aboard the papal plane, told reporters that "St. Pope John Paul II had the last clear word on this and it stands, this stands." The statement was in reference to a 1994 document by Pope John Paul. In that statement, he reportedly definitively stated that female priesthood was a no-go. A female reporter pressed Pope Frances by asking: "But forever, forever? Never, never?” He responded: "If we read carefully the declaration by St. John Paul II, it is going in that direction." Francis set up a commission in August to study the role of women deacons in Christianity.