I think the Pope, far from not knowing what he was doing or being clumsy, was doing some re-inventing of Catholicism because the 21st century base load of "common man" is far more knowledgeable and capable of critical thinking than it was 500 years ago. Those mired in dogma and doctrine are like men stuck in the stocks, whilst others run freely around them. As time progresses, there is always the chance a new scientific luminary will appear, another Stephen Hawking, who has the tick from science officials, who after all run the new religion.False Alarm! and baaaaaad news for all the believers who went out and sinned last night in the belief that hell is a fiction. You're in for it now.
Pope Francis did not tell a journalist that “hell does not exist”, the Vatican has insisted.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/pope-francis-hell-does-not-exist-catholic-vatican-full-quote-a8281041.html
It is also because people are looking into word meanings, definitions and historical accuracy (Michael Tsarion being a case, but there are many others) and finding out how words got meanings attributed to them. The closer meaning of the verb "to sin" is to miss, so there is no harm in people who have missed out or missed the point to have a second chance on another go-around. People who miss simply need a wider, more expansive field of opportunity for learning and knowledge open to them.
I believe everything down to the slightest movement of their Catholic robes is calculated. Nothing is chance. It is all orchestrated. And that is a nod from me to a current court case here in Australia about Cardinal Pell, whose defence is saying he couldn't have pedo'ed anyone because his robes would have got in the way.