The problem was less the papacy than the American bishops. The death of Cardinal Bernardin in 1996 was a partial turning point. He had a pernicious effect on the American Church and, of course, he had allies in the Vatican who had been entrenched by the time that John Paul II became pope in 1978. To be sure, John Paul was loathe to confront the "counter-church" in the Vatican and elsewhere, but he did persuade Cardinal Ratzinger to stay at his side. The new pope had twenty years to size up the situation. The hatred that liberals have for him is an indication that they fear the worst. Modernists like Mahoney are not outside the loop, although supreme within. But maybe the costs of dealing with the sex crimes will reveal to the world what sort of man he really is.
I don't understand why you feel that Cardinal Bernadin had a pernicious effect on the Catholic Church. Could you please explain?
Excellent point; those groups in the Church with a homosexual agenda used to refer to the Pope, when he as still Cardinal Ratzinger, as "the Rat". Pope Ratzinger is never going to a Pius X, but I believe he's leading the Church in the right direction now. As you said, the liberals hate him, and that's a good thing.