Pope Francis offered no new position on the issue of women’s ordination while on a flight returning from Sweden. When asked if the Catholic Church may one day allow women priests and bishops, he responded, as done previously, that the question was already settled in 1994 with St. John Paul II.
After spending the past week being hosted by Sweden’s first Lutheran woman primate, Archbishop Antje Jackelen of Uppsala, he cited previous teachings from St. John Paul II. According to Catholic News Service, "the pope responded that 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."
While the pope has begun movements to discuss women deacons within the Catholic Church, he has always pointed to the 1994 position of St. John Paul II.
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