Prominent cardinal named in sexual assault lawsuit against archdiocese of Quebec

The title of a distinguished Vatican cardinal, who’s considered a possible successor to Pope Francis, seems on a listing made public as a part of a brand new class motion in opposition to the archdiocese of Quebec, Radio-Canada’s investigative program Enquête has discovered.

Cardinal Marc Ouellet, who was the archbishop of Quebec when the Reality and Reconciliation Fee was going down, is amongst some 88 members of the clergy who’re going through allegations of sexual assault. It is the primary time Ouellet’s title seems within the authorized proceedings.

The civil lawsuit represents greater than 100 victims who had been allegedly sexually assaulted, most of them as minors, by clergymen and different workers working for the archdiocese since 1940. 

A lot of the assaults allegedly happened within the ’50s and ’60s, based on the category motion paperwork. 

Ouellet is by far probably the most distinguished individual amongst these listed within the class motion, and the one with the highest-ranking place within the Catholic Church. The cardinal shouldn’t be going through any legal accusations.

His alleged sufferer, who’s recognized as “F” within the paperwork, was doing an internship as a pastoral agent from 2008 to 2010 when she says the assaults occurred. She says they happened throughout public occasions.

“He grabbed me after which … his arms on my again, they went down fairly low,” stated the complainant, who shared her model of what occurred to Radio-Canada’s Enquête workforce final spring. 

“Fairly intrusive for, as an instance for somebody who’s my superior, who’s the archbishop of Quebec.”

Throughout that encounter, the cardinal allegedly instructed her it is the second time they’d seen one another that week and he may as properly kiss her on the cheek, since there is no such thing as a hurt in treating himself somewhat.

“That made me very uncomfortable, particularly the phrase ‘treating’ himself. As if I used to be his deal with,” she stated.

The allegations the lady shared with Enquête are the identical ones discovered within the lawsuit paperwork.

On completely different events, Ouellet allegedly held the lady in opposition to his physique, massaged her shoulders or vigorously caressed her again “right down to the spot the place the buttocks begin,” every time making her really feel very uncomfortable.

“I felt chased after. It turned increasingly invasive, increasingly intense to the purpose the place I finished attending occasions. I attempted avoiding being in his presence as a lot as doable,” she stated.

In an e mail to Radio-Canada, the archdiocese of Quebec stated that it’s conscious of the allegations in opposition to Ouellet, however declined to situation any additional feedback.

On the time of the alleged assaults, Ouellet was the archbishop and the pinnacle of the archdiocese. He had the ultimate say in who was employed as a pastoral agent, based on Alain Arseneault, the lawyer representing the plaintiffs within the lawsuit.

“You’ve at the moment a younger girl in her mid-20s versus a robust man ready of authority, identified worldwide on the time, who was possibly 60,” he stated. “Like most victims, she froze.”

When “F” spoke about her uneasiness with these round her, she was instructed the cardinal is a heat man and that she wasn’t the one girl who confronted such a “drawback with him,” the category motion reads.

A priest who was lively within the archdiocese on the time instructed Enquête there have been rumours circulating concerning the cardinal’s behaviour. 

The priest, who requested to stay nameless, was one of many clergy members to whom the younger girl shared what occurred with the cardinal. He stated they believed her allegations.

“We could not recover from it. He arrived like a sheriff who was coming to convey order to the archdiocese of Quebec, he was despatched from Rome.” he stated. “For him to have inappropriate behaviours with girls, we discovered that actually unusual on his half.”

Though the allegations in opposition to Ouellet appear much less severe bodily than different circumstances cited within the class motion, the impression on the sufferer is nonetheless simply as vital, stated Arsenault.

“It is laborious to think about that somebody along with his intelligence, in his place, was unaware of what he was doing and the results it may have,” he stated.

Ouellet was known as again to Rome and promoted as prefect for the Dicastery of Bishops, the Vatican’s division that’s chargeable for choosing new bishops, in 2010.

“F” stated as soon as Ouellet left and was changed by Gérald Cyprien Lacroix, the present archbishop of Quebec, issues modified considerably.

“He was much more adjusted. If there was bodily contact, it was a easy handshake,” she stated.

A criticism made to the Vatican

In response to the lawsuit, the lady determined to share what occurred to her with the committee answerable for reviewing sexual allegations inside the archdiocese of Quebec 10 years later, after a troubling encounter with one other priest.

She stated she went to see the committee and instructed them, “I do not know if I used to be a sufferer, however that is my story.”

“I felt the necessity to inform [them] the whole lot that I had gone by that was inappropriate since beginning as a pastoral agent.”

She stated members of the committee instructed her each circumstances had been circumstances of sexual misconduct, and allegedly inspired her to file a criticism.

It is solely then that the committee realized one of many clergymen was Cardinal Ouellet, as the lady had not shared the boys’s names beforehand.

The criticism in opposition to Ouellet was filed on to the Vatican in 2021. It was assigned to priest Jacques Servais, a theologian tasked with wanting into the matter. 

A digital assembly was organized between the sufferer and the Vatican, however a 12 months and a half later the lady stated she nonetheless hasn’t been knowledgeable of the conclusion of the investigation.