"When we demonize certain groups, what we're saying is that those groups are different from us"

No, we're saying that the Church as an extremely powerful organisation orchestrated an intentional cover-up of profound evil that was rife in it's heart. The Church is different from me, as it's much bigger - bigger on a phenomenal scale, and these actions that this massive powerful organisation took in knowingly, willfully and routinely sheltering and assisting evil-doers amongst its own ranks, were themselves evil.

Catholics as individuals are not to blame for the evil actions routinely taken by a corrupt organisation that they trusted in.
I also have a lot of time for genuinely spiritual Christians as individuals. But I do not conflate individuals and organisations.