Activities of the Catholic Church in Poland Against Pedophilia in 2018
Activities of the Catholic Church in Poland Against Pedophilia in 2018

Summary/Abstract: The aim of the article is to determine the type of activities undertaken by the Catholic Church towards clergymen committing sexual offenses, and more specifically: pedophilia. The research problem is a question: what actions does the Catholic Church take against pedophilia? In order to realize a research project, it was first determined how the offense is defined in the doctrine of church criminal law. Then, there was made an analysis of the activities undertaken by the hierarchs of the Catholic Church. On its basis, a typology of the forms of the Church’s influence at various levels was reconstructed in the field of both preventive and sanctioning actions against the clergy. In the article there was adopted a time restriction covering only 2018. It can be described as a breakthrough, first of all due to the verdict that was made in Poznań (MS, 2018), the accusations that appeared at the end of the year against the deceased chaplain of Solidarity, Fr. Henryk Jankowski and initiatives taken by both citizens and politicians, such as the first anti-clerical happening of Baby Shoes Remember in Poland or the creation of a pedophile map. In the cinemas, a movie entitled “Kler” showed up. It moved the topic of pedophilia in the Church. Results: the Catholic Church in Poland, apart from symbolic activities, i.e. oral and written declarations, assurances, and prayers, undertakes also substantial actions, such as personal changes, cooperation with the state or the meetings of hierarchs centered around pedophilia.

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