Polish Movie 'Kler' Stirs Up Debate in Poland

Polish-language movie 'Kler' (clergy or priest)

Image courtesy: www.imdb.com/

A recently released Polish-language film, Kler (cleric or priest), with the main theme of how some Catholic priests deal with money, power, and sexuality, has generated hot debate in Poland. Conservatives have slammed it for smearing the Church with negative stereotypes and giving a wrong image of the priesthood in Polish Catholic Church. Others have praised the film for portraying the truth. Some viewers told a news agency that Poland needed this moment of truth. 

Directed by Wojciech Smarzowski, an established Polish film-maker, the Kler portrays three priests -- the first one, an alcoholic priest, falls in love with a woman and encourages her to have an abortion, the second priest is accused by his parishioners to be a pedophile, and the third one is an archbishop, having connections with political higher-ups in Poland, lives a life of luxury, corruption, and blackmail. The film has been inspired by the biblical message, "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves" (Matthew 7:15).  

Film Director Smarzowski said: "... I guess the most important factor is that I am not the only person in Poland who is disturbed by the fact that the Church is above the law... I consulted priests and former priests, who aided us at every stage of the production. They helped me with the script, the choice of locations, the costumes, the on-set work and, later, the editing process. Those who want change in the Church shared their experiences and other observations. They liked the film and considered it to be Christian, and they said it didn't insult the Christian faith...."

For more on the film, click on the following: 

• Polish film The Clergy sparks hundreds of allegations of abuse (Based on real events, Kler has broken box office records and divided Catholic country) (Oct. 15, 2018)
• "The Clergy" is stirring debate about Poland's Catholic Church (Oct. 18, 2018)
• [Video] Clergy (Kler) -- premiering in Bio Paradis (on 12th Oct. 2018)
• Interview of Wojciech Smarzowski, Director of Kler, ("Clergy [movie] is like a constant dripping of water that wears away a stone") (Oct. 9, 2018)
• Movie about corrupt priests outrages politicians in Catholic Poland (Sept. 28, 2018)
• Poland: Film stokes debate about sexual abuse (Oct. 1, 2018)