And the rot was a few decades older than him ... and neither he nor his successors moved effectively against it. They allowed it to fester, until it exploded in the 1960s.
We must learn from this period in our history, not just pretend it was all sweetness and light.
Things will never be all sweetness and light until the Consecration of Russia. But things were a lot sweeter before VCII than then they are now.
No pre-conciliar pope ever set foot in a mosque or a synagogue. No pre-concilar pope universally suppressed the Mass codified by St. Pius V and imposed what Cardianl Ratzinger called, “a banal on-the-spot product”. No pre-concilar pope ever worshipped together with non-Catholics or held Assisi love feasts. No preconcilar popes ever called for Synods to discuss (and later approve) Holy Communion for those in mortal sin. No pre=concilar popes called for synods to consider pre-marital sex, cohabitation, homosexual sex, etc.
As a matter a fact, thanks to VC II, things went from semi-sweet to downright sour.