We must stand firm and fight to absolve the Church from the crime and sin of paedophilia - said the Primate of Poland, Archbishop Wojciech Polak in an interview for TVN24's "Fakty po Faktach". He added that the Church is fully aware of the problem.
"I think that there’s no single answer to the question of who or what is responsible. The crisis we have in our hands is, above all else, a result of the crime and sin of paedophilia that are present within the Church," said the Archbishop. He stressed that "we must stand firm and fight in order to absolve the Church from the crimes and sins that are being revealed". The Primate of Poland also said that "there’s absolutely no question about that we must protect the victims at all costs. These people need our help." He added that "the victims are now what the Church cares about the most". The Primate also addressed the documentary by Sekielski brothers in which many cases of sex abuse by priests are shown. "We need to carefully examine and fully investigate all of it. I can’t precisely assess the responsibility based on the movie alone," said Wojciech Polak.
"Mr Sekielski's movie was not an attack on the Church," the Archbishop underscored.
"Just don't tell anyone"
Polish bishops will meet on May 22 to discuss steps to tackle paedophilia in Poland's powerful Catholic Church after a documentary that showed victims confronting priests who had sexually abused them shocked the devout nation.
The film "Just don't tell anyone", which has been watched by 14.8 million people since Youtube released it on Saturday, also alleges that the Polish Church moved known paedophile priests from parish to parish, as happened in other countries.
Lawyers and journalists have called for the police to launch criminal investigations and the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, which has close links to the Church, announced plans on Tuesday to tighten sentences for child sex abuse.
Autor: gf / Źródło: TVN24 News in English
Źródło zdjęcia głównego: tvn24