WARSAW (Reuters) - The leader of Poland’s conservative ruling party promised harsher sentences for child abuse on Sunday, as the release of a documentary about pedophile priests created a fresh battleground in an election campaign marked by debate on religion and sexuality.
Jaroslaw Kaczynski, leader of the ruling Law and Justice party (PiS), delivers a speech during the party's convention in Szczecin, Poland May 12, 2019. Agencja Gazeta/Krzysztof Hadrian via REUTERS
The film “Just don’t tell anyone”, which features victims confronting their abusers, has reignited criticism of the Catholic Church’s handling of such cases and had over 3 million views within 22 hours of being posted on YouTube.
“We prepared changes to the penal code meaning this crime (child abuse) will be punished very severely ... there will be no suspended sentences, there will be severe penalties, maybe even up to 30 years in prison,” said the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party’s head Jaroslaw Kaczynski at a rally.
Currently, sexual abuse of a child under 15 is punishable by up to 12 years in prison.
Kaczynski’s words came amid tensions between liberals who feel the church wields too much power in Poland and conservatives who see the Catholic faith as a key element of national identity whose influence must be protected.
On Monday, a woman was detained by police for posting images near a church of the Virgin Mary with her halo painted to resemble the rainbow flag of the LGBT community.
CHURCH “SORRY FOR EVERY WOUND”
PiS, which leads most opinion polls, has made protecting traditional values a key plank of its bid to win European elections on May 26 and parliamentary elections in the autumn.
“Does this (stance against child abuse) mean that the crimes ... of a small number of priests give the right to attack the church, to offend Catholics? No, that is no justification,” added Kaczynski in the northern city of Szczecin.
The film, by brothers Tomasz and Marek Sekielski, shows elderly priests, including Franciszek Cybula who was the chaplain of former president Lech Walesa, being confronted by people they abused as children. It presents allegations that known pedophiles were shifted between parishes.
“I am deeply disturbed by what I saw in Tomasz Sekielski’s film. The enormous suffering of those who have been hurt gives rise to pain and shame,” Poland’s most senior archbishop Wojciech Polak said in a recorded statement. “I am sorry for every wound inflicted by people of the church.”
Anna Frankowska of the charity “Have no fear”, which supports abuse victims, said the Catholic Church in Poland had not taken concrete steps to bring pedophile priests to justice.
“This is just another apology, it almost appears as if the statement was prepared before the church officials saw the movie,” she told Reuters.
On Sunday, Polish leader Jarosław Kaczyński of the conservative  publicly declared intent to impose stricter punishment for child sexual abuse.  Kaczyński said the party was ready with amendments to the penal code for sentencing up to 30-year prison terms for child sexual abuse.

Presently, sexually abusing minors below the age of fifteen can carry a sentence up to twelve years in Polish jurisdiction.  Kaczyński said, "We prepared changes to the penal code meaning this crime will be punished very severely ... there will be no suspended sentences, there will be severe penalties, maybe even up to 30 years in prison".

This announcement comes after the documentary  was released on YouTube on Saturday.  ''Just don't tell anyone'' is a documentary by Tomasz and Marek Sekielski, which is about pædophilia among Polish Roman Catholic priests, and the sex abusers being confronted by their victims.  It gathered over eight million views in two days.  There have been numerous complaints about Catholic churches not handling the cases of sexual abuse properly, and even covering up the acts in Poland and around the world.

Speaking about the movie, the topmost senior Polish archbishop  said, "I am deeply disturbed by what I saw in Tomasz Sekielski's film.  The enormous suffering of those who have been hurt gives rise to pain and shame ... I am sorry for every wound inflicted by people of the church."  Calling it as "just another apology", Anna Franowska of "Have no fear", an abuse victim support charity, told Reuters "it almost appears as if the statement was prepared before the church officials saw the movie".  On Thursday, the leader of Roman Catholic Christianity, Pope Francis, imposed a law mandating Catholic priests and nuns to report cases of sexual abuse in the religious congregation to the higher church authorities.