Of course it is not a liberal v conservative issue, I will explain.
In the eyes of the progressives Pope Francis can do wrong. One can almost hear the cheers every time he berates orthodox Catholics for their 'rigidity', 'Pharisaism, etc, every time he demotes or publicly humiliates orthodox members of the Curia, Cardinals Burke and Müller and Cardinal Sarah.
However, he becomes their whipping boy when he fails to hold bishops 'accountable for allegedly covering up for child abusers. Fair enough, you might say.
However, a quick look at the targetted bishops and one sees that there are very few progressives amongst them. Mahoney seems to be teflon man compared to bishops such as Finn and Nienstadt who were hounded out of office and have been hounded ever since.
Progressives have no real interest in the victims here, in fact they are grateful for the scandal because it gives them another stick with which to beat Christ's Church.