How is this "anti-Catholic"? I find it interesting.
I do too. Had never heard this. Of course until a few months ago I had never heard the term 'anti-pope'. The Catholic Church has some interesting history to say the very least.
It's false scandal-mongering aimed at undermining the authority of the Pope.
The myth comes from various sources: The name possibly comes from a Pope John, who was derided for being affeminate who may have been mocked as "Pope Joan." That probably accounts for the name.
There was an incident of one of the Medici family (Catherine?) giving birth during a papal procession. This woman was powerful enough, it was joked that she was the real Pope, like people nowadays scornfully refer to President Hilllary. That probably accounts for many of the details.
And then there the street named for a Mrs. Pape, which non-Italians could easily mistake for being named after a female Pope.
It is anti-Catholic because it says that a central Catholic doctrine - the Apostolic Succession - is a complete fraud and is provably so (i.e. a non-ordained woman became Pope) and the Church is engaged in an elaborate conspiracy to suppress history.
Me too, and I'll probably watch to see which version of the story they push. And for the surrounding history too.
Assuming that you are serious, imagine the British inventing the story that George Washington was really a secret agent of the crown. A totally bogus assertion calculated to promote divisions among the new country.
Fast forward a few hundred years and imagine ABC finding an obscure reference to it (no matter how absurd it was at the time) and decides to make a feature one hour show or a TV movie about it.
I can't see the anti-catholic angle either. I heard the Pope Joan rumor a while back. I've heard that some popes had pictures painted with their children when they shouldn't have had children. Maybe that's just a rumor too. I've heard that once there were 2 popes at the same time, maybe even 3. It was all resolved diplomatically. Maybe that's a rumor also.
The fact is that these rumors exist and have some basis. They may be true or false. Unless you're using faith, all history is hear-say anyway.
Making a show out of this material is sensationalism, not bigotry. Anyone who is offended by this needs to relax more.