Cardinal Marc Ouellet, who occupies one of the most important functions of the Vatican government, is accused of sexual assault in a class action lawsuit made public Tuesday in Canada and aimed at more than 80 members of the diocese of Quebec.
The cleric, current prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, would have improperly touched an apprentice between 2008 and 2010 when he was archbishop of Quebec, according to a document resulting from the class action authorized by the Superior Court of this French-speaking province last May. .
A woman designated by the letter F.
The revelations come three weeks after a visit by Pope Francis to Canada, during which he apologized for abuses perpetrated by members of the Church in residential schools for indigenous people.
Contacted by AFP, the Quebec diocese replied “to take note of the accusations against Cardinal Marc Ouellet” and “to make absolutely no comment on this subject”.
The allegations are among the testimonies of 101 people “who were sexually assaulted” by clergy and lay employees between June 1940 and today, court documents say.
In the case of Marc Ouellet, the complainant, designated with the letter “F.”, claims to have been assaulted on several occasions by the cardinal. She says in particular that Cardinal Marc Ouellet would have “kissed” her and “slid her hand” down her back “up to her buttocks” in 2010.
He had denounced the “drama of sexual abuse committed by clerics”
In February, evoking the “drama of sexual abuse committed by clerics”, Cardinal Ouellet had criticized, during an important symposium at the Vatican in the presence of Pope Francis, the “criminal behavior that was covered up for too long to protect the institution”.
“We are all torn and humbled by these crucial questions that challenge us every day as members of the Church,” he said.
The Catholic Church is regularly the subject of revelations about sexual assault scandals within it.
Source: BFM TV
