pope Francis is the rock where Christianity is built on. if you disrespect him you disrespect Christianity, so yes you are a Catholic-basher
I understand that for some Catholics it's impossible so separate between criticizing the pope and criticizing their religion, but it can't work that way to outsiders. To us the pope is just another leader of people, and as a political figure and he is not beyond criticism. When he talks Christian doctrine it's not my business. When he talks politics, especially about matters that directly affect me, he is not beyond criticism.
If you follow JTF you can see we have the same attitude to great rabbinic scholars (e.g the late rabbit Ovadia Yosef). While they deserve respect as religious scholars when they promote disastrous political agenda they are not immune to criticism.