And, as a non-Catholic, how would I be affected? The answers to these questions will determine how I prepare for the event.
I’m not a history scholar, but I was raised Catholic. My guess is that if there is a schism to happen again, it will be American conservative Catholics who would split and set up their own church, like how Eastern Orthodox set up their own church as they do not recognise the pope in Rome but rather the one in Constantinople (aside from differences in theology).
I’m not sure how bad the schism might be though. Pope Pius XII did modernise the Catholic church in the 1960s to allow Catholic churches to speak in local languages; but a tiny minority of conservative Latin-speaking clergy split to continue the old way. That group has been rehabilitated now. Even if the present American Catholic conservatives declare split, we don’t know how many will follow. Probably the best case scenario in this event is that there will be politicking behind the scenes to undermine Pope Francis.
Edit: oh I hadn’t realise you’re asking specifically how you might be affected personally by this. My guess is that it depends how bad the schism is, as I mentioned. I think the bishop who was sacked is a Trump-supporter. If significant amount of American Catholic conservatives follow him and Trump, that would turn more Americans to support the right. I’m not sure what you’re political leanings are but that might be good or bad.