There is a concerted effort to clean out these whited sepulchres, and it's been ongoing for about ten years now. Our archdiocese dropped the hammer on these guys back in the late 80s/early 90s. Both the archbishop and his vicar-general (who is now our rector) recognized immediately the serious and long-term consequences for the Church if they didn't act immediately, and they did. They were drastic -- laicizing, exiling to remote monasteries, and turning one priest directly over to the law (I think he's still in prison). And highly effective.
Unfortunately, a gay subculture got a foothold in some dioceses, and it will take time to clean them and all their buddies out. It goes hand in hand with the liberal "protestant" Catholics and all their works.
Pope Benedict has made some momentous changes -- an A to Z inspection of all seminaries, just for starters.
But at some point, people have to stop using this as a stick to beat the Church with. At least the hierarchy is dealing with the problem and has been for some time -- unlike other churches and the public schools, which actually have a much higher rate of sex offenders. But you never hear about that from the mainstream media -- too busy beating up on the Catholics. Of course they have an ulterior motive, which should be obvious.
Wish I had seen your reply before I type my screed :)
Sounds like a very good start, but with all the harm that has been done (and much of it is the media, but the episcopate can't shirk their responsibility), this should be done in an atmosphere that the public will see. Crimes against the faith (and other crimes) that have a public effect should be cleaned out in a manner that the public can see.
How else can anyone trust their spiritual leaders?