Leaders of the Roman Catholic Church in Germany are really inspiring me these days. I’ve been writing about their Synodal Path movement for about 3 years now, and I wish more English-speaking Christians were aware of what’s going on over there.

Senior bishops and even cardinals are working together with ordinary clergy, theologians and lay people to deconstruct and reconstruct teachings and practices. The Vatican is, to say the least, unimpressed. Pope Francis himself has made public statements indicating that he wishes the movement would stop.

The German Catholic Church is working toward, among other things, leadership from below, full equality for women clerically and administratively, full equality for LGBTQ people including doctrinal change, and married priests.

Just a couple weeks ago, responding to a mass coming-out (as protest) by German LGBTQ Catholic clergy and administrative workers, a senior cardinal in Germany called on the church hierarchy to repent and apologize for how it has persecuted LGBTQ people.

This is so profoundly refreshing compared to the way the Catholic clergy in most of the rest of the world behaves. Just this past December in my own state of Michigan, the bishop who runs the upper peninsula for the church effectively booted all Catholics who are in same-sex relationships or living as transgender people. In my own state, in the past several months the Church has contributed several million dollars to political campaigns to fight against civil equality for LGBTQ people, in matters that have no practical bearing on Church business.

Apologies are absolutely in order. Something like sackcloth and ashes if you ask me.

I wish more Christians were like Catholics in Germany.