The leader was speaking on a plane on the way to Rome from Sweden, a country where Catholics make up just one per cent of the population.
He was asked about women in the church after the head of the Lutheran Church, a female, welcomed him to the country.
He told reporters that "St Pope John Paul II had the last clear word on this and it stands, this stands."
In 1994 Pope John Paul issued a document that ruled out opportunities for women to become part of the priesthood.
Reports say the journalist asked if that meant forever and the pope answered: "If we read carefully the declaration by St John Paul II, it is going in that direction."
Earlier in 2016 Pope Francis seemed more open to the idea after commissioning a study into the role women played in the Catholic Church.
The remarks come a day after the pope signed a joint declaration with the Lutheran Church that entrenched the two bodies' similarities.
