Don't you get it?
If sin and scandal within the Catholic Church can be shown to rise to some arbitrary, auto-defined level, this voids the Church's claims to be whom she says she is.
Look at these foul sinners!! No way is this the one, true Church!!
Any stick will do to beat a dog.
That's about it.
There are many sad examples of organizations doing exactly the same thing as the Catholic Church did. Are priests held to a higher standard? Yes, the Bible says God holds them to a higher standard.
As a society we have tended to cover up these types of crimes.