It is very true. It is exceptionally hard to obey, when the heart and the head both say "I don't like this one bit." Anyone can admire the Holy Father. But we are required to love him. And what is love? Obediance unto death. That does not mean following him into Hell, of course. But it does mean sacrificing personal beliefs. Sigh. I do firmly believe, that Vatican II is our test of love.
I disagree that Loving the Pontiff requires "obedience unto death", where are you getting that from? Much of this has nothing at all to do with JPII.
Also, it goes way beyond just "sacrificing personal beliefs". This is about families and children and their relationship with God. Many Catholics only want what's best for their families, which includes a richer worhip and deeper reverence. They don't trust their children to the current modern liberal sisterhood and clergy, nor the quickly sinking Catholic schools.
They won't sacrifice their children or their faith while those who are supposed to be leading us do nothing about, or even partake in the precipitous devolution of the mother.church.
If it were just a matter of sucking it up and being scandalized from time to time at the local NO-mass by merely "sacrificing personal beliefs" things may be different. It goes much deeper than that however, many people in the SSPX are there because they were literally forced into it.
Who says we are required to love him in the sense you say--obedience unto death? That is ridiculous. You happen to like this pope. So you place him on a pedestal to worship. But in fact the moment he commands a subject unjustly, he abuses his authority and his command loses its legitimacy. You need to recognize this. It is this which conservatives refuse to acknowledge--and this separates them from traditionalists and enables authority to get away with the outrages it perpetrates regarding the faith. They don't mind criticizing bishops who abuse power, but they have difficulty believing a pope may do so as well. But authority exists for a reason--it is not to be used at the whim of the man who has it--not even a pope. It is limited by the divine law itself, as well as by laws and precepts and the perennial teachings of the Church.