There is no pace at which he could have gone that wouldn't have created some backlash.
If he had waited a hundred more years, there would still have been backlash.
The catholic church is an organization that is built around stability first and foremost. It changes, of course, but very, very slowly. That is very much by design.
That design has helped them "survive" for as long as they did, but it might end up being what eventually leads them into irrelevancy.