‘Revolution’ in Poland as nation confronts priestly abuse

Associated Press ^ | May 25th, 2019 | By VANESSA GERA

[Mariner]

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — One victim spoke out, and then another, and another. A statue of a pedophile priest was toppled in Gdansk, put back by his supporters, and finally dismantled for good. A feature film about clerical abuse was a box office hit.

Poland thought it had started confronting the problem of clerical abuse and its cover-up by church authorities. Then a bombshell came: A documentary with victim testimony so harrowing it has forced an unprecedented reckoning with pedophile priests in one of Europe’s most deeply Catholic societies.

Poland’s bishops acknowledged this week they face a crisis and made a rare admission that they have failed to protect the young. It’s also a crisis for the country’s conservative government, which is closely aligned with the Catholic Church, putting the ruling Law and Justice party on the defensive before Sunday’s European Parliament vote in Poland.

The documentary ”Tell No One ” was directed by journalist Tomasz Sekielski. Before its release on May 11, ruling party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski had described discussion about clerical abuse as a “brutal attack” on the church and portrayed the LGBT rights movement as the key threat to children in the country. But the revelations in the documentary have pushed the party to face up to the cleric abuse crisis. It has vowed stiffer penalties for pedophilia, although its leaders have avoided pointing a finger at the church specifically.

Across the country, the film has triggered soul searching and raised questions, including whether the same bishops who moved perpetrators from parish to parish for years will be capable of cleansing the church. Some wonder if Poland, which is already being reshaped by economic growth and secularization, could eventually follow Ireland, where the abuse crisis broke the Catholic Church’s hold on society.

[Mariner]

The more deeply ingrained into the social fabric the Church is, the more traumatic for the nation when the truth is exposed.

Abject corruption rarely seen by the eyes of man.

[PeterPrinciple]

A feature film about clerical abuse was a box office hit.

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That is one way to get the truth out...…………………….

[bigbob]

If anyone has the courage to confront this, it’s the Poles.

[stockpirate]

Sadly this is worldwide

[gaijin]

It’s kind of interesting, the reaction to a film showing the bad effects of gays in the church.

Instead of causing concern about what gays do, it causes concern about the CHURCH itself...?

That’s silly and makes me suspicious about who owns the Polish film industry, about what they’re trying to do.

[Mariner]

“That’s silly”

The entire institution is corrupt.

[Spok]

What’s happening to the church needs to happen to our government, from Congress to the corrupt and lazy bureaucrats. To be human is to be tempted by corruption. That’s the premise our forefathers were guided by when they drafted our founding documents. That’s why they and their works are so despised by leftist ideologues and fascists.

[Twotone]

It isn’t about gays in the church any more than it’s about heterosexuals in the church. When you become a priest you take a vow of CELIBACY. If you fail to abide by that vow, you should be removed from the priesthood. Child molesters of any stripe should be prosecuted immediately & removed from involvement with children permanently.

The Catholic Church has a lot to atone for.