Senyszyn asked Nawrocki about the victims of pedophile priests. The PiS candidate accused her of having “phobias”

It started with a question during the debate in Końskie regarding the plans of the first presidential foreign visit. Karol Nawrocki replied that he would like to visit Washington with a stopping in the Vatican. Then Joanna Senyszyn asked him such a question: “Will your visit to the Vatican be only a pilgrimage for state money, or will you appeal to the pope to bring Polish bishops to the department, and without courts to start paying compensation to the victims of pedophile priests?”

Karol Nawrocki gave his competitor without a moment's thought. – Professor, I will not enter during this visit as the future president of the Polish state in your personal phobia – said the PiS candidate.

Opponents criticize Nawrocki in the statement. – He hopes that the church hierarchs on the day of elections from the church pulpit will call for voting for him – believes Tomasz Trela, MP of the left. – he was clearly lost. And not only on this question – says Jakub Stefaniak, deputy head of the Chancellery of the Prime Minister from the Polish People's Party.

– Pedophilia in the Church and pedophilia at all is nobody's phobia. This is the real harm of children. This is the greatest barbarism and the greatest harm that the child can happen to – says Dorota Łoboda, MP of the Civic Coalition.

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Law and Justice defends Nawrocki. – He obviously summarized the entire political activity of Professor Senyszyn, who is known for being a kind of obsession with the Church. She sees the clergy everywhere, sees bishops everywhere – comments Radosław Fogiel, PiS MP. – Karol Nawrocki, maybe it will be a surprise for you, he is not a bishop, he is not even a priest. He is also not candidates for the Pope, but for the president of Poland – emphasizes Marcin Horała, PiS MP.

– I am a member of the Catholic Church and I want the Catholic Church to cleanse, because it is in the interest of the Church. I hope that this process will take place, but this is not the president's task. For the sake of the Church, for the good of these victims, it is simply to be ordering with this matter, but this is not a task that directly belongs to the presidential prerogative – believes Zbigniew Bogucki, PiS MP.

It was from the PiS boards that the State Commission for explaining the cases of pedophilia, including those in the Church, was created. – I have a phobia, I personally have. I have arachnophobia, I'm afraid of spiders, just saying. And this is a phobia, this is some unjustified fear of something. However, it is difficult to call human biography phobias – notes Robert Fidura, a representative of people hurt in the Church.

The church statistics themselves show that only until 2021 the number of registered people in the church, after reliable reports, amounted to over a thousand. Importantly, all statistics in this matter are very illusory and most likely do not give up the problem at all. Because the question of how a small percentage of people hurt at all wherever he reports their case – it can be 10 percent, and it can be even less.

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– These are not phobias, they are alive, specific people with their transitions, with broken biographies. With very often injured psyche, suffering, healing. These are also cases of suicide. So calling someone below criticism, any criticism – says Robert Fidura.

– For me, not only how Mr. Karol Nawrocki referred to the matter, he is outrageous, but above all that such a question was asked in this debate. In my opinion, Mrs. Senyszyn just crossed all boundaries, playing in really politically harm of children. And this is in my opinion the biggest scandal of this situation. In the presidential debate there is no place for this type of story – says Jakub Jankowiak, an activist for sexually injured by clergy.

For people injured by priests, the words of Karol Nawrocki are incomprehensible because even the Catholic Church itself, even church hierarchs, officially admit that the problem exists and that these matters should be settled.

– Only the solidarity of the injured persons, people involved in helping them and the pastors of the Church has a chance to be an important step towards healing both the wounds of the injured persons and the wounds of the entire church community – says Archbishop Wojciech Polak, the Primate of Poland.

In the near future a commission of independent experts for sexual abuse of minors in the Catholic Church is to be created. It is to investigate all matters from 1945 until today.