AFP/File / Janek SKARZYNSKI Poland's Law and Justice (PiS) party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski is regarded as the country's de facto powerbroker The leader of Poland's governing right-wing party vowed Sunday to crack down on child sex abuse as an in-depth documentary on paedophilia among Polish priests went viral in the Catholic country. "Those to whom children have been entrusted will be especially severely punished (for sex abuse), and this applies to priests, of course, but also to all including... well-known celebrities," Law and Justice (PiS) party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski was quoted by Polish media as saying.
Those currently found guilty of abusing children under 15 years of age face up to 12 years behind bars.
Kaczynski, regarded as Poland's de facto powerbroker, suggested that prison sentences could run to up to 30 years, but did not indicate which celebrities he might be referring to.
He spoke at a rally for May 26 elections to the European Parliament amid a campaign in which the PiS has railed against gay rights and accused opponents of unjustly attacking the Catholic church.
Meanwhile, "Just don't tell anyone", a documentary on priestly sex abuse in Poland by independent Polish journalist Tomasz Sekielski has been viewed more than four million times in the 24 hours since it was posted Saturday on YouTube.
The two-hour-long film includes compelling hidden camera footage of victims who are now adults confronting elderly priests about the abuse they suffered decades ago at their hands.
Several of the priests admit to the abuse and apologise for it, sometimes hinting at monetary compensation.
The film also documents how priests who were accused or even convicted of child sex abuse were transferred to other parishes where they were able to continue their duties and work with children.
"I apologise for every wound inflicted by the Church's people," Polish Primate Wojciech Polak said in a statement, while vowing to do everything he could to help victims.
Liberal opposition leader Grzegorz Schetyna welcomed Polak's pledge but said it was "clear" the church had failed to confront child sex abuse and that now "only the state will be able to be effective".
Recent opinion polls show that the PiS and Schetyna's European Coalition are running neck-and-neck ahead of the European ballot.
The ground-breaking Polish documentary concludes that Polish-born pope and Catholic Saint John Paul II turned a blind eye to sex abuse by priests when the Warsaw's communist regime was working to undermine the church, then Poland's only independent institution.
Pope Francis on Thursday passed a landmark new measure to oblige those who know about sex abuse in the Catholic Church to report it to superiors, which could bring many new cases to light.
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.