Aboard the Papal aircraft, Pope Francis in a press conference said that the Church's door is closed for a female priest.

This is the first time the Pope publicly talked about the topic.

"We cannot limit the role of women in the Church to altar girls or the president of a charity, there must be more," the Pope said.

"But with regards to the ordination of women, the Church has spoken and says no. Pope John Paul said so with a formula that was definitive. That door is closed," he said referring to a dictum of late Blessed John Paul II saying the ban was an infallible teaching of the Church.

With a wave of feminism creeping in the Catholic Church, many argued that it is time that the Church gives women a higher leadership position. However, the Church stands on its belief that Jesus only willingly chose males as his apostles. Proponents of female priests argued that Jesus only acted in accordance to the context of his time.

Negative twitter Reactions

Following Pope Francis' statements, netizens tweeted negative reactions in social media site Twitter.

Twitter user @KerilynnEngel, a women's history writer tweeted "I don't know why ppl think Pope Francis is so liberal. He says women shouldn't be priests & gay ppl shouldn't lobby for equal rights." Twitter users @MusicbyMeiosis tweeted ""Pope Francis is a f*cking prick;" @graeme9348m said "So what's modern about Pope Francis again...? - no women priests, no contraception, same old crap different century!"; @Zach1213 tweeted "And this is why I've left the church"; @bobby360 flagrant gender-based discrimination.

However, twitter users @jilliferium, on the other hand, commended Pope Francis. She tweeted, "You were doing so well."

Pope Francis a sexist?

Even as a cardinal, Pope Francis was heard saying that women were naturally unfit for political office.

In 2007, during his speech against a woman presidential candidate Cristina Kirchner, Pope Francis said "Women are naturally unfit for political office. Both the natural order and facts show us that the political being par excellence is male; that Scripture shows us that woman has always been the helper of man who thinks and does, but nothing more." ("las mujeres son naturalmente ineptas para ejercer cargos políticos", refiriéndose a la candidatura presidencial de la Senadora Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. "El orden natural y los hechos nos enseñan que el hombre es el ser político por excelencia; las Escrituras nos demuestran que la mujer siempre es el apoyo del hombre pensador y hacedor, pero nada más que eso")

Last 2012, Pope Francis reaffirmed the Vatican's condemnation against Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), a group of nuns in the United States which according to the Vatican had "serious doctrinal problems" and promoted "radical feminist themes incompatible with the Catholic faith."

The Pope has yet to make a statement regarding the allegations that he is a sexist. Meanwhile, his stands against women taking the leadership role in the Catholic Church will remain firm and infallible.