Apples to oranges though.
The PR firm that came in after the Penn State scandal was not working with the same administration that actually oversaw the abuses. All of those people were fired and the PR firm came in and worked with the people who replaced Sandusky and Paterno.
Further, Penn State acted with integrity in uncovering, rooting out,and fixing the problem. There was no attempt to hide or massage messaging.
In the Saints example, they allegedly helped the same leadership that was in charge during the sexual abuse. And it does not appear that the Church is doing anything similar to what Penn State did to rectify what happened. It appears they're trying to carry on business as usual while taking as little PR damage as possible.
This is serious. I'm withholding judgement for now, until more detail comes out.