Statutory rape is a crime in Poland, actually. Apparently the perpetrator could not be criminally charged in this case because a complaint was laid after the statute of limitations had already expired. But even the bishop implicitly acknowledges the problem by endorsing that the priest's version of beginning sexual contact with the boy when he was 16. That would not be a crime in Poland or in most of the EU where 16 is the age of consent rather than 18 as it is here in the United States.

Janusz has been insisting since 2014 or 2015 that he was molested repeatedly starting when he was 12, not 16.

In the eyes of much of the church hierarchy, the major offenses the priest is guilty of are breaking his vows of celibacy and having sex outside of marriage.

This is common perception problem, as I illustrated by bringing up the Italian seminary case. In my opinion, one of the reasons why the Catholic Church cannot seem to cope with the clerical sex abuse problem is that their hierarchy holds a moral worldview that makes understanding the crisis very difficult for them.

Priests and bishops have a very difficult time understanding that sex with an underage person is especially morally reprehensible, because they're immersed in a world where all sex outside marriage, particularly same-gender sex, is morally reprehensible.

Throw into that mix that forgiveness is an important part of Church teachings, and you land in a bad place. If priests can confess sexual indiscretions with adults and be forgiven, as is not uncommon, then why should forgiveness not be generally applicable?

I'm not saying the church hierarchy thinks consciously in these terms, but I see it playing out in action. The priest in this case was only suspended from public ministry for 5 years, with the church tribunal showing little recognition that sex with a child is inherently and fundamentally different and worse than than other sexual "sins" the Church recognizes. This is what I mean when I say they're blinded.

It's like the case that I wrote about in Michigan a couple of weeks ago. The bishop who controls the Church in the upper peninsula denied practically all sacramental and communal life of the church to LGBTQ people. In his worldview, our sins are so heinous that, unless we confess and repent, we are anathema.

But if a cleric who abused a child confessed and repented, Church dogma would require him to forgive them. So you literally end up with a situation where gay and trans people are more morally reprehensible than child abusers.

And so the clerical sex abuse crisis rages on, fed in part by toxic ideology.