Is the sexual abuse of children a "Catholic problem?"

Headlines today are trumpeting the Vatican's emphasis that the sexual abuse of children is not just a problem for the Catholic Church, and that other religious organizations also need to take public steps, as the Church has done, to combat abuse within their ranks.  Obviously, child abuse occurs in lots of Protestant churches and other organizations.  But hasn't there been something distinctive about the Catholic Church's hierarchical structure, secrecy, and greater tendency (compared to Protestants) to defend its institutional autonomy?  In this regard, isn't the institutional culpability greater in the episodes of abuse within the Catholic Church?  Have there been any statements from the Vatican recognizing and/or apologizing for this dimension of the crisis (rather than the individual acts of the priests involved)?  I realize that the litigation climate may not be especially welcoming to such introspection, but I also think the Church should avoid statements that sound like "everybody else does it too."