The Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet, prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, is accused of sexual abuse in Canada by a woman who did a fellowship as a pastoral agent from 2008 to 2010, according to an investigation by Radio Canada.
His name appears in a collective complaint involving 87 other members of the church and which has been filed by 100 victims, many of them minors at the time of events that took place largely in the 1950s and 1950s. sixty.
(You may be interested in: What is in the tomb of the Virgin Mary?: You can only enter once a year)
The Canadian public broadcaster, CBC, detailed this Tuesday that the woman, identified as “F” was doing an internship when she coincided with Ouellet, who is now 78 years old.
“He grabbed me and then… his hands on my back and they reached quite low,” said the complainant, according to whom on different occasions the cardinal pressed her body against his, massaged her shoulders or caressed her with relish.
These touches occurred at public events, to which she, who felt “persecuted”, stopped attending to avoid her presence.
(Also: Pope Francis authorizes the first step to canonize Father ‘Toñito’)
The archdiocese said in an email to Canada Radio that it was aware of the allegations leveled against Ouellet, but has not commented.
At the time of the events he was archbishop and had the last word on the hiring of personnel.
“You have a young woman in her mid-20s facing a powerful man in a position of authority, then known throughout the world, who was maybe 60,” says Alain Arseneault, a lawyer for the complainants.
A priest who worked in the archdiocese at the time told Radio Canada that at that time there were already rumors about the behavior of the now cardinal. He was one of the people to whom the complainant told what happened and assures that she believed him.
Ouellet does not face any criminal charges. The lawsuit against him was filed directly with the Vatican in 2021, and although a meeting was organized between the Holy See and the victim, a year and a half later the latter assures that she has not been informed of the results of the investigation.
The cardinal was called to Rome and appointed in June 2010 as prefect for the Dicastery of Bishops, the body that selects these high ecclesiastical officials and then transmits the names of those elected to the Pope for him to make the final decision.
#Top #Vatican #Cardinal #Accused #Sexual #Abuse #Canada