I think Pope Francis now and Popes JPII and Ratzinger particularly, but previous popes for 2000 years, make a mistake thinking that the idea of women as priests has to be justified by history.  That mostly men were leaders of religion in the past, as they were rulers of nations in the past, is historical and cultural.  NOW, women are no longer limited to the roles it was once assumed was all they could do by their physical, emotional, and mental capacities.  

We have come a long way, baby.  

Quoted above, JPII thought:   "the Church has no authority whatsoever" to ordain woman as priests, citing Jesus' choosing of only men to serve as his twelve apostles.

The Church has no authority whatsoever to deny women as priests, either, since Jesus never said only men could serve in leadership.  That is an assumption, based on the fact that he chose 12 males as apostles.  They were also circumcised, wore beards, and most were married.  Why one characteristic and not others?