Page 14 - bne_newspaper_May_17_2019

Central Europe
May 17, 2019 www.intellinews.com I Page 14
Political fighting intensifies in Poland as film documenting Catholic clergy's abuse of kids goes viral to millions
Wojciech Kosc in Warsaw
The documentary film “Just Don’t Tell Anyone” that exposes child abuse by Polish Catholic priests has gone viral in the homeland of Saint John Paul II with 14.5mn views less than five days after its premiere on YouTube.
The film’s skyrocketing popularity is making political leaders take positions on the issue in an attempt to turn public outrage to their favour, as the campaign for the European Parliament elections on May 26 is heating up.
The election is key for all sides of the extremely divided political scene in Poland. The incumbent populists from Law and Justice (PiS) are hoping a victory will give the party a fresh momentum before the national election in the autumn.
The opposition’s main grouping, the European Coalition (KE) – a conglomerate of several opposition parties led by the centre-right Civic Platform (PO) – is looking, in turn, to weaken PiS and capitalise on their potential success in the autumn vote to remove it from power.
But no matter how weakened by the film Poland’s Catholic church might be, it still wields great power in Poland. That has presented mainstream parties with a conundrum – how to address popular outrage against the Church but not become its enemy.
The ruling PiS – always seen as close to the Church for its conservatism and self-proclaimed
mission to defend "traditional values" – appears to have sided with the Catholic hierarchy, risking alienating voters angered by the film.
In response to the documentary, PiS vowed to introduce harsher jail terms for paedophilia, which, if new regulations were passed, would be sanctioned with up to 30 years in prison. The government is also going to raise the age of consent from 15 to 16 years.
Critics pointed out, however, that the ruling party did not plan to change penalties for covering up crimes of sexual abuse against minors – of which the high-ranked Catholic clergy has been accused by the film, similarly to cases in other countries like Ireland or the US.
PiS also came under fire for lack of reaction against individual priests shown in the film and their seniors.
Just over a week prior, the police acted fast to detain a woman for adding a rainbow halo – an LGBT symbol – to pictures of the Black Madonna, a revered religious symbol in Poland.
“Whoever raises his hand against the church, raises his hand against Poland,” PiS’ chairman Jaroslaw Kaczynski said at the time.
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