Both the Polish PM and head of Poland’s Roman Catholic church have expressed regrets

Convicted pedophiles in Poland can now be sent to jail for 30 years after MPs listened to public outrage after the broadcast of the documentary film Tell No One on YouTube. The film showed never seen before footage on sexual abuse of children in Poland by Polish priests. Politicians gave their near-unanimous nod to change the criminal code. The edited version has introduced life sentences for dangerous pedophiles. It has also removed a limitation stature when it comes to prosecuting, particularly horrifying cases relating to child sexual abuse.

The YouTube posted documentary was made by two brothers Marek Sekielski and Tomasz Sekielski. After it was uploaded to social media, the video was viewed approximately 18 million times. These revelations have caused an earthquake in the influential Roman Catholic church in Poland. The documentary, which lasts two hours, includes several hidden camera footage showing victims who are now adults confronting their abusers, now elderly priests, concerning the torture they faced many years back. Many priests admit to this abuse and have also apologized for the same. The documentary also shows in detail how the accused or even convicted priests were subsequently transferred to a number of other parishes from where they can continue what they had done earlier. Poland’s top priests declined to be interviewed for this documentary.

#TellNoOne / #TylkoNieMowNikomu, a shocking documentary by @sekielski about pedophile priests in Poland. Truly hoping this is the beginning of tougher punishments for child sex abuse. Anna Misiewicz – a simple 'thank you' for sharing your story is not enough. https://t.co/hqOrb3iDLS — Agata Porter (@agataporter) May 17, 2019

The changes to Polish law was introduced by the Law and Justice (PiS) government, a right-wing administration is known for its closeness to the Roman Catholic church in Poland. The new law came into fruition only ten days before the participating countries in the Eurozone area runs elections to elect their candidates in the European parliament. Mateusz Morawiecki, the Prime Minister of Poland, told the media that the Polish judicial system did not account for the severity of pedophilia as a crime. Words of contrition were also uttered by Tomasz Polak, the primate Archbishop of Poland. He said that he was incredibly moved by what he saw in the film and then apologized for the wounds inflicted by the members of the Roman Catholic church. He pledged to establish a “solidarity fund” which will assist victims with monetary help but insisted not to classify it as any compensation fund. Charles Scicluna, the Archbishop of Malta, and a known Vatican pedophilia expert when it comes to priests is scheduled to visit Poland in June.

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