It wouldn't be beyond the scope of the job of the Pope to choose less harmful doctrines to concentrate on.

It really isn't something that he's concentrated on, just something the press went on about a lot. On the Africa trip, he was answering written questions from reporters, so it's not like he brought it up out of nowhere. Also, it's something the Church gets criticized for, so it was appropriate for the Church to recently re-evaluate their position on it.

The Pope has certainly come out and encouraged charitable giving, without any reporters pestering him about it.