When Paul VI decided to re-evaluate the Church's teaching on contraception, people got the idea that the Pope was going to "relax the rules" on that issue. It doesn't matter that he did the right thing in Humanae vitae (of course, Pius XI said it better in Casti connubii), because once it was published, people who wanted permission to contracept just disregarded it anyway. Today, well over 90% of Catholics use contraception.
That's what will happen as a result of this "re-evaluation" of Paul VI's encyclical: as Cdl Burke noted, all manner of perversion will be excused, even if only by the faithful (a term I'm forced to use very loosely).
Yes it appears that Church leaders at all levels are unwilling to publicly defend the Faith and teachings of Jesus, except for a few.