QUEBEC CITY (LifeSiteNews) — Two more women are alleging that Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet made inappropriate gestures and actions towards them, as part of a wider legal battle regarding allegations that he committed sexual assault.
French language Canadian news outlet Le Journal reported that Ouellet is facing allegations of sexual misconduct from two more women – allegations which came to light as part of arguments supporting the original claim by Pamela Groleau that Ouellet made inappropriate actions towards her.
The first of the new claims dates back to 1992, with the woman claiming that the event took place during the preparations for Sunday Mass in Montreal. She argues that Ouellet came behind her “and, with both hands on the table on each side of me so as to prevent me from getting out, rubbed his pelvis on me.”
The second woman’s claims are revealed as being contained in a letter she wrote to Pope Francis, in which she argues that Ouellet made her “really uncomfortable” during an event near Quebec, where Ouellet was archbishop from 2003 to 2010.
Having built up a friendship of 10 years with Ouellet, the cardinal was spending an evening in the presence of the woman and her boyfriend, Le Journal reports. As he was leaving, Ouellet reportedly gave her a second hug, and “hastened to slip a $50 into my vest,” on the “the top of my chest.”
Both claims have been issued as part of an argument made by Groleau’s lawyers, defending her original claim that Ouellet had sexually assaulted her.
Groleau’s original allegation against Ouellet came as part of a class-action lawsuit, which specifically accused the prominent cardinal of kissing a woman at a cocktail reception in 2008 while “sliding his hand down her back and touching her buttocks.”
Ouellet swiftly responded to the lawsuit, firmly denying the “false accusations,” and stating that he considered “defamatory the interpretation and dissemination of these allegations as sexual assault.” The Canadian cardinal was prefect of the Congregation for Bishops at the time, resigning earlier this year at the age of 79.
His declaration of innocence was to some extent supported by Pope Francis. In 2021, after being notified by the woman in question of the allegations against Ouellet, the Vatican had appointed Jesuit Father Jacques Servais to investigate the accusations. This past August, after the class action lawsuit was filed, Servais said that he had determined “there are no grounds” to open a canonical trial.
An August 2022 statement from the Holy See Press Office stated: “Pope Francis declares that there are insufficient elements to open a canonical investigation for sexual assault by Cardinal Ouellet against person ‘F.’”
At that time, Groleau had not made her name public, and her anonymity was still hidden to the public when Ouellet issued a defamation lawsuit against her in December 2022. Explaining the reason for his nearly unprecedented suit, Ouellet stated it was “to prove the falsity of the allegations made against me and to restore my reputation and honor.”
“I have never been guilty of these reprehensible behaviors, much less of those alleged against other members of the clergy cited in the class action,” Ouellet said.
He repeated his prior condemnations of all such actions in a fresh statement issued June 13. “As part of the defamation suit I initiated to clear my name, Ms. Groleau is now alleging that I have engaged in reprehensible behavior towards other people,” he stated. “Ms. Groleau’s view of things is not in keeping with the person I am and amounts to new defamatory allegations.”
Ouellet added that “this view of things proposed by Ms. Groleau does not fit with the person I am and constitutes new defamatory allegations against me. I firmly deny having made any inappropriate gesture whatsoever towards these women.”
The cardinal excused any actions as being “gestures of cordiality,” stating:
The behaviors she accuses me of are nothing more than gestures of cordiality made in the context of public representations.
He expressed the desire to still “carry […] this vision that it is still permissible in our society to greet people in a spirit of fraternity in the context of public events.”