On the youtube.com/sekielski channel, the worldwide premiere of a shocking film about the sexual abuse and rape of children by Catholic clergy took place on Saturday. The over-two-hour documentary tells the stories of victims of Polish priests. The film presents cases from several decades ago and—something that continues to horrify all parents—cases that are very recent. The film was made thanks to crowdfunding through the Patronite platform, which raised more than PLN 450,000 in a few months.
“I did not make an anti-Church film. I stand on the side of the victims,” Tomasz Sekielski said on Maciej Orłoś’s programme. “And if nothing has happened for years and perpetrators are not prosecuted, such a film had to be made. The Church can only benefit from this, because a parent can calmly send their child to a safe place. The Church in Poland must agree, as in Germany, to an independent audit. Auditors must review the archives, conduct an investigation and ask the hierarchs questions. The Church must be held accountable for what it has done. In Germany, there were more than 4,000 victims, and even so it is said that the figure was understated because of lost documentation and other problems with the audit. In my opinion, the scale in Poland is no different from what happened in Germany or Ireland,” the journalist added.
The film shows the mechanisms and practices used by hierarchs to conceal paedophilia. It tells the stories of children whose personalities were devastated and whose lives were destroyed.
“I want this film to receive widespread attention so that the hierarchs respond. Recording the victims was extremely emotionally difficult work. When I finished a week of filming, I just wanted to get into bed, curl up in the foetal position and lie there for several days,” Tomasz Sekielski said.
After the film was published, Archbishop Wojciech Polak, Primate of Poland and Delegate of the Polish Bishops’ Conference for the Protection of Children and Young People, issued a statement:
I am deeply moved by what I saw in Mr Tomasz Sekielski’s film.
The immense suffering of those who were harmed evokes pain and shame. At this moment, I also see before my eyes the tragedy of the victims whom I have met personally. I thank everyone who has the courage to speak about their suffering.
I apologise for every wound inflicted by people of the Church.
As the Bishops’ Conference delegate for the Protection of Children and Young People, I will do everything in my power to help those who were harmed.
The information disclosed shows how necessary the provisions of Pope Francis’s latest document, “Motu Proprio” Vos estis lux mundi, are. Every case must be explained. No one in the Church can evade responsibility.
We must protect children and young people.
There is no other path for the Church.