It is part of a ploy to divorce,  in the perception of the greater public, Christ from His Church, to divorce the hierarchy from the lower clergy and the laity. "We follow Jesus not the hierarchy, we are the Church not they." Divide and conquer.
None of this existed prior to Vatican II except in the rarified atmosphere of 'academia theologica'. Their dissent was largely contained during the papacy of Pius XII: amongst the laity there was virtually no dissent at all. We all went to Church, to Mass, Confession, Benediction, devotions as our parents, grandparents and their antecedents had done for hundreds of years and more. Catholicism was at an all time high in the modern world. Alas, the non-conformists came into their own after he died.
Thanks to the web a small number of dedicated activists are able to vociferously push an agenda aimed at 'reforming' the Catholic Church of today along the lines advocated by Luther, Melancthon, Bucer, Calvin, Oecolampadius, Zwingli, Cranmer, etc.