The chairman of the German bishops’ conference has expressed disappointment that Pope Francis has not endorsed changes in Church teaching on homosexuality and women’s ordination, but allowed that the Pontiff is “doing what he can.”

Bishop Georg Bätzing said that the Church’s doctrine must change, and praised the Pope for “initiating a process where all these questions are put on the table.”

In a May 22 interview, Bishop Bätzing said that he would consider leaving the Catholic Church—as did another prominent German cleric, Father Andreas Sturm—if he “got the impression that nothing would ever change.”