Francis shoots down women cardinals

The veteran Italian Vatican writer Andrea Tornielli published a lengthy interview with Pope Francis in the daily La Stampa on Saturday covering many topics, including the recent discussion over whether the pontiff might consider naming women as cardinals.

In effect, Francis shot down the idea, calling it in Italian "una battuta," which translates roughly as a sort of joking sound bite, and saying it reflects "clericalism."

Here's the complete exchange, in an NCR translation from the Italian.

Tornielli: May I ask if we could have women cardinals?

Pope Francis: "It's a sound bite and I don't know where it came from. Women in the church must be valued, not 'clericalized.' Whoever is thinking about women cardinals suffers a little bit from clericalism."