A judge has found sexual misconduct accusations against Quebec’s Cardinal Marc Ouellet to be unfounded and ordered his accuser to pay him $CA100,000 (about $A72,000). Source: The Catholic Register.
The cardinal, retired since April 2024, had been under a cloud of suspicion since Paméla Groleau accused him of touching her without consent on three occasions between 2008 and 2010 while she was training or working as a lay pastoral agent. She also told the court she felt “hunted” at another event, saying Ouellet came from across the room to sit next to her.
“The court finds that the allegations describing the four events cited by Ms Groleau in the context of the class action are false,” Superior Court Justice Martin Castonguay wrote in a decision released on August 31.
Justice Castonguay concluded that Ms Groleau’s testimony against the now-82-year-old Ouellet “was neither credible nor reliable”, noting in his judgment that she had changed her story several times.
Two other women testified against Cardinal Ouellet at the trial, but the judge ruled their testimony was not pertinent to the question of whether Ms Groleau defamed Cardinal Ouellet. He also concluded Cardinal Ouellet was “not the author of the gestures” brought into evidence by one of the women.
The allegations against the cardinal surfaced in 2022 as part of a class-action lawsuit launched against the Archdiocese of Quebec and dozens of clergy and lay members. In response, Cardinal Ouellet publicly denied any wrongdoing and countered with a $CA100,000 defamation countersuit against his accuser, claiming she had damaged his reputation, honour, and dignity.
After the lawsuit was filed, the Vatican chose not to launch its own investigation into the cardinal. In a statement issued on August 18, 2022, by Matteo Bruni, then-director of the Press Office of the Holy See, the Vatican found there were “insufficient elements to open a canonical investigation for sexual assault by Cardinal Ouellet against person F”, as Ms Groleau was identified at the time.
In a statement, Ouellet’s lawyers were pleased the court recognised the injustice suffered by the cardinal.
“This judgment reaffirms a fundamental principle: even in the context of judicial proceedings, serious allegations must be based on accurate and relevant facts and advanced with the rigour required by their gravity,” Dominique Ménard said in the statement.
The cardinal has promised to donate the award to organisations fighting against sexual abuse experienced by Indigenous Canadians.
FULL STORY
Cardinal Ouellet vindicated in abuse lawsuit (The Catholic Register)
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