A prominent Vatican cardinal from Quebec, considered a leading candidate for the papacy, is one of dozens of clergy members facing sexual assault charges in a class-action lawsuit against his former diocese. Cardinal Marc Ouellet, a former archbishop of Quebec City and a member of Pope Francis’ inner circle, is accused of inappropriately massaging and touching a woman’s lower back during several public events between August 2008 and February 2010. She was an intern at the time, serving as a pastoral agent in the diocese. The woman, identified in court documents only as F., claims Cardinal Well’s repeated touching and unwanted attention made her feel “hunted” by one of Canada’s most powerful clerics. She also claims she was separately assaulted by another priest, Léopold Manirabarusha, whose unwanted advances between 2016 and 2018 she claims included forcing her to perform oral sex on him. Her allegations are contained in a statement of claim released Tuesday as part of the class action. The plaintiffs allege that at least 85 members of the Quebec diocese sexually assaulted more than 100 victims from the 1940s onwards, most of whom say they were minors when the assaults occurred. The claims have not been tested in court. The Diocese declined to comment Tuesday. Her lawyers, Catherine Cloutier and Émilie Bilodeau of the Stein Monast law firm, also declined to comment. The incidents with Cardinal Ouellet reportedly took place five years after he was elevated to the College of Cardinals and months before he left the diocese of Quebec and moved to Rome to become Prefect of the Church of Bishops, the Vatican office responsible for appointing bishops. bishops. The attacks reportedly began the year after Cardinal Ouellet published an open letter apologizing for the church’s past “mistakes” in Quebec, including anti-Semitism, homophobia and child sexual abuse. “These scandals have shaken people’s trust in religious authorities and we understand that. Forgive us for all this evil!’ the letter said. In an interview, Justin Wee, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said The fact that the allegations involve a clergy member as prominent as Cardinal Ouellet underscores the diocese’s systemic failure to prevent sexual abuse. “When someone of that stature, Cardinal Well, can carry out these acts, you can imagine what kind of acts other priests in the diocese could do,” Mr Ui said of the accusations. She added that news coverage of such abuses often inspires other victims to come forward. In the lawsuit, F. claims that Cardinal Ouellet, who was then an archbishop, first touched her inappropriately when she was 23, at an event for the Sisters of Charity in Quebec City. Shortly after she was introduced to the cardinal, she claims, she felt a man’s hands forcefully massaging her shoulders – and when she turned around, she saw it was him. He smiled at her and rubbed her back before parting ways, she says. The encounter made her uncomfortable and she spoke to colleagues about it afterwards. F. claims that she was reintroduced to Cardinal Ouellet at a cocktail reception soon after, in November 2008. She claims that the cardinal hugged her, held her firmly against him and rubbed her back with his hands before whispering in her ear and ask her name. Finally, F. claims that in February 2010, at the ordination of a colleague, Cardinal Ouellet intercepted her and said that he should hug her again, because “it wasn’t bad to be spoiled a little.” He hugged her and slid his hand down her back to just above her buttocks, she claims. He didn’t know how to react. In the statement of claim, F. says her concern was heightened by the fact that her position and career depended on Cardinal Ouellet. She says she started avoiding him as much as possible at events. Those in whom F confided told her that she was not the first woman to have such “problems” with him. In 2020, after attending sexual assault training, F. realized that her own experience with Cardinal Ouellet — alleged non-consensual intercourse — constituted sexual assault, the claim says. Court documents state that F. wrote to Pope Francis about Cardinal Welle in late January 2021. She was informed by e-mail a month later that the pontiff had appointed a Jesuit priest, Jacques Cervet, to investigate. The claim says that Father Servais appears to have little understanding of the complexities of dealing with allegations of sexual abuse, that he may have been an associate of Cardinal Ouellet, and that he last had contact with F. on March 23, 2021. When Cardinal Ouellet’s elevation to cardinal was announced by Pope John Paul II in September 2003, he was known as a wise Sulpic theologian with traditional views. A decade later, after the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, Cardinal Ouellet acknowledged that he was among the frontrunners to be the next pontiff. The class-action lawsuit against the Quebec City diocese was first filed by two plaintiffs two years ago and initially outlined only allegations against two priests dating back to the 1950s and 1960s. A judge certified the action in May. The new claim filed Monday added detailed allegations from six plaintiffs, including F. The other complaints concern a vicar and parish priests. Mr Wee said it was now up to the defendants to either start negotiating a settlement or go to trial. His firm, Arsenault Dufresne Wee Avocats, is also bringing class-action lawsuits against several other Quebec dioceses and churches over sexual-assault allegations. An independent audit of nine Quebec dioceses spanning more than 80 years found at least 87 alleged sex abusers among church staff, according to a summary of the findings released in June. With a report by The Canadian Press The Morning Update and Afternoon Update newsletters are written by Globe editors, giving you a concise summary of the day’s most important headlines. Sign up today.
