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RELIGION

Poland vows firm penalties for sex abuse amid church crisis

Associated Press
Published | Updated
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    People stand in the Temple of Divine Providence, a major church in the Polish capital, on Monday May 13, 2019. A new documentary about pedophile priests has deeply shaken Poland, one of Europe's most Roman Catholic societies, eliciting an apology from the church hierarchy and prompting one priest to leave the clergy.(AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

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    Cars drive on the street in front of the Temple of Divine Providence, a major church in the Polish capital, in Warsaw, Poland, Monday, May 13, 2019. A new documentary about pedophile priests has deeply shaken Poland, one of Europe's most Roman Catholic societies, eliciting an apology from the church hierarchy and prompting one priest to leave the clergy.(AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

WARSAW, Poland – Poland's prime minister is vowing tougher punishments for those who sexually abuse minors after a new film spurred the country into grappling with the problem of abuse by priests.

The documentary "Tell No One" has triggered soul searching in the deeply Catholic country since it was released on Saturday on YouTube.

Shock over the allegations that abuse was covered up poses a challenge to Poland's right-wing government, which is close to the Roman Catholic church. Only recently the head of the ruling party, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, spoke of an "attack" on the church over earlier efforts to confront the culture of impunity within the church.

Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said Tuesday his government has prepared legislation to more severely punish the "degenerate, disgusting" crimes of pedophilia.