Quebec cardinal wins defamation lawsuit over sexual assault claims

A Canadian cardinal who was falsely accused of sexual assault has been awarded 100,000 Canadian dollars ($72,245) after a Quebec judge found that the former church employee who accused him acted with recklessness equivalent to malice.

The Aug. 31 ruling by the Superior Court of Quebec favored Cardinal Marc Ouellet, prefect emeritus of the Dicastery for Bishops, in the defamation lawsuit he filed against Paméla Groleau after her allegations became public in 2022, according to Vatican News. At the time of the alleged encounters, Groleau was a lay pastoral worker in the archdiocese.

Cardinal Ouellet welcomed the decision.

“I am grateful that the civil justice system of my country has recognized that the allegations of sexual assault made against me were false and formulated with ‘extreme recklessness equivalent to malice,’ and that the person concerned has been held responsible for the ‘infamous’ and defamatory statements made against me and widely circulated throughout the world,” he said, according to the outlet.

Vatican News reported that the cardinal pledged to donate the money to organizations combating sexual abuse against Indigenous people in Canada.

The case arose after Groleau’s account of four encounters with Cardinal Ouellet between 2008 and 2010 appeared alongside other allegations of sexual abuse in a 2022 class-action lawsuit involving the Archdiocese of Quebec, CBC News reported. 

According to Vatican News, Pope Francis declined to authorize a canonical investigation in August 2022 after a preliminary review found insufficient grounds to proceed. Cardinal Ouellet maintained his denial and filed the defamation lawsuit that December.

During the March trial, Groleau said only the last of the four encounters amounted to sexual assault, according to the Montreal Gazette. Quebec Superior Court Justice Martin Castonguay, however, found that her account had shifted over time and conflicted with evidence introduced at trial, ultimately rejecting her testimony about the final encounter as neither credible nor reliable.

Castonguay also rejected Groleau’s claim that she felt “hunted” by Cardinal Ouellet, according to the Gazette. The judge noted that their encounters occurred in public and that no evidence showed the cardinal sought private meetings with her or contacted her by telephone or email.

The court also focused on the context in which the allegations became public. The class action largely concerned allegations that members of the clergy had sexually abused children, and Cardinal Ouellet said his inclusion associated him with pedophiles.

According to Vatican News, the ruling read, “This is the infamy of which Cardinal Ouellet complains: namely, that he was associated with paedophiles in the proceedings relating to the class action.”

Groleau’s attorneys maintained at trial that her allegations were true and that she did not intend to harm Cardinal Ouellet. They declined to comment on the ruling or say whether she would appeal, according to CBC.

Following the decision, Cardinal Ouellet reaffirmed his commitment to fighting abuse within the Church and society.

“I unreservedly support substantiated victims in their pursuit of restorative justice,” he said.