Monday, August 22, 2022

Low Acts in High Places

"There are no grounds to open an investigation into a sexual assault of Person F by [Cardinal] Ouellet."
"[Neither in the letter F sent to the Pope] nor in the testimony via Zoom that I subsequently collected in the presence of a member of the ad hoc diocesan committee, did this person make any accusation that would provide grounds for such an investigation."
"Pope Francis declares that there are insufficient elements to open a canonical investigation for sexual assault by Cardinal Ouellet against the person F."
Matteo Bruni, director, Holy See press office

"If the evidence was so insufficient, why didn't the Vatican call back our client to ask more questions?"
"Why did she have to wait so long before having any news about the investigation that was started in January 2021?"
"She's very disappointed, but she knows there's no other choice but to go to civil court."
Justin Wee, Lawyer for "F"
Picture of a priest dressed in black.
The former archbishop of the archdiocese of Quebec Cardinal Marc Ouellet is accused of sexual assault. He is pictured here in Rome in 2019, ahead of the Pope's "Meeting on the Protection of Minors in the Church." (Stephanie Jenzer/CBC)
 
Prominent Quebec Cardinal Marc Ouellet,  an adviser to Pope Francis, and a leading contender for the next papacy has been accused of sexual misconduct in a class-action lawsuit filed in Quebec Superior Court by a woman identified only as "F" who has accused the cardinal of several incidents of sexual assault between 2008 and 2010. She accuses him of sliding his hand down her back, touching her buttocks at an event she attended in Quebec City.

She had written a letter directly to Pope Francis in January of 2021 informing him of the events she was subjected to by Cardinal Ouellet. The response was to inform her that the Pope had appointed Father Jacques Servais to conduct a preliininary investigation into her allegations. The result of which was the conclusion that insufficient evidence exists to support the woman's claim. 

In 2013, Cardinal Ouellet was a major contender for the papacy until Argentinian Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio emerged the compromise candidate to become Pope Francis. Cardinal Ouellet's candidacy was "very close" to that of Bergoglio's through rounds of voting. He chose ultimately to urge his own supporters to back the Argentinian Bergoglio, and the rest is history. 

When Pope Francis was pressured by Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano to resign for having covered up for Cardinal Theodore McCarrick from New York who was found to have sexually assaulted a series of young boys over a period of decades, Cardinal Ouellet wrote a scathing public rebuke: "I conclude that your accusation is a political setup without any real foundation that could incriminate the Pope and I repeat that it has profoundly wounded the communion of the church."

At the 2010 event in Quebec City where "F" alleges Cardinal Ouellet molested her sexually, the allegation is that Ouellet kissed her cheek, hugged her and slid his hand down her back to touch her buttocks: "That day, more than during previous meetings, F understood that she must flee Cardinal Marc Ouellet, the uneasiness she felt was more present than ever", the civil court filing reads.

Cardinal Marc Ouellet, right, seen here with Pope Francis during a symposium on priesthood at the Vatican in February 2022, regularly meets with the pontiff. His alleged victim said she filed a complaint with the Vatican in 2021. (Tiziana Fabi/AFP/Getty Images)

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posted by Pieface @ Monday, August 22, 2022

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