“But I don’t recall them doing this with the Pope’s past two predecessors.”
Actually they did but it was done differently. Both Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict were misquoted and misrepresented often.
They were portrayed as being hard line and rigid and not caring about the church. Pope Benedict was derisively called “God’s Rottweiler” and a NAZI.
Love the way the media called Pope Benedict a Nazi, even though membership in the Hitler Youth was not optional during WWII.
Meanwhile, membership in the Choom gang which BHO belonged was completely optional yet the media never mentions that organization.