WARSAW, May 14 (Xinhua) -- The Polish government announced on Tuesday its intention to increase prison terms for serious crimes, such as pedophilia, just days after a documentary about pedophilia in the Catholic Church was posted on the internet and sparked widespread outrage.
"Degenerated, disgusting, cruel and beastly crimes, social behaviors -- starting with pedophilia -- will be punished much more severely than it is the case currently in the penal code," Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said at a press conference on Tuesday, announcing changes to the penal code.
Serious crimes would be punished with longer sentences of up to 30 years in prison, according to proposed changes to the penal code, Morawiecki said.
The announcement came after the documentary entitled "Just Don't Tell Anyone", which was published online on May 11, caused a massive uproar in Poland by showing how Catholic priests who had abused children continued to do their job unpunished, in some cases even after proof of the abuses they had committed had surfaced.
The freely accessible documentary has been seen by millions of Poles since its launch.
The documentary highlights the responsibility of the leaders of the Catholic Church, who failed to take measures against the abusive priests despite increasing evidence against them.
Certain leaders of the Catholic Church, who had originally refused to be interviewed for the film, eventually declared themselves moved by and thankful for the production.
"On behalf of the entire Episcopal Conference, I would like to apologies to all the victims. I realize that nothing can compensate them for the wrongs they have suffered," said Archbishop Stanislaw Gadecki, head of the Polish Episcopal Conference, the highest institution of the church.
"The known (cases of abuse) need to be thoroughly analyzed once again. For the unknown cases, processes should be started in such a way that the welfare of the victims is protected above all," Gadecki said.
The primate of Poland, the highest figure in the national church, also apologized.
The foundation "Have No Fear", representing victims of abuse by priests, has announced that it would formally propose the creation of a special state commission made up of specialists and independent experts to research the phenomenon of pedophilia in the Catholic Church.
Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church, has called for concrete steps to combat pedophilia in national Catholic churches and started a debate about new anti-abuse procedures, though campaigners criticize him for not doing enough.
