Pope Francis is the most aware in history. You have to thank information at your fingertips for his progressive(relatively) outlook. He is using the bully pulpit of the papacy in a more positive way than any of his predecessors I can name.
He disappointed a little about women and their roles in the church only if one had grossly unrealistic expectations. I don't for instance expect him to admit that God is a creation of a childhood imagination that refused to go away with age.