I agree with you.  Sadly, the thing is that anyone who is in the position of spokesperson for the Catholic Church will say only what he (I cannot imagine a female spokesperson at this point in time) is supposed to say.  The official Church line was denial and obfuscation; when that was not sufficient, then deflection was considered appropriate.  What better way to deflect than to call it an "American problem"?  
I do wonder how those men sleep at night.