By Lucy Caulkett-
The Pope’s refusal to probe accusations of sexual misconduct against one of its top cardinals due to insufficient evidence is a disgrace.
The Catholic Church has for decades been ravaged with allegations of sexual offences against women and young children, making the pope’s decision not to investigate, all the more disappointing.
Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet was named in a class-action lawsuit accusing 80 clergy members of sexual assault in his home province of Quebec.
Allegations by a Canadian woman against a top cardinal, Marc Ouellet, has determined the case doesn’t warrant further investigation.
Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni issued a statement responding to reports this week that Ouellet was one of several people named in a class-action lawsuit against the archdiocese of Quebec that accused several priests of sexual abuse or assault.
Ouellet, 78, headed the Quebec archdiocese from 2002-2010, when he became the powerful prefect of the Vatican’s bishops’ office. He oversaw all of the Catholic Church’s investigations into allegations of sexual misconduct involving adults and bishops or cardinals.
Bruni confirmed allegations against Ouellet were received by the Vatican and investigated by a Jesuit theologian, the Rev. Jacques Servais. Servais determined there were no grounds to proceed further with a canonical investigation or trial,
A former diocesan intern alleged the Cardinal inappropriately touched her at public events between 2008 and 2010.
Cardinal Ouellet has not commented on the accusations.
The Cardinal is not facing criminal accusations and the allegations have not been tested in court.
The allegations surfaced in a statement of claim filed on Tuesday in Canada against the Quebec Catholic diocese.
The woman, who is identified by the initial F in the lawsuit, accused Cardinal Ouellet of inappropriately rubbing her shoulders, hugging her, kissing her on the cheek and slipping his hand down her back, close to her buttocks, all without her consent.
Her complaint was also filed directly to the Vatican in January 2021, with a priest assigned to look into it, according to the filing.
In a statement released on Thursday, the Vatican said there are not enough grounds to issue a canonical investigation – which looks at whether Catholic Church law has been violated – into Cardinal Ouellet.
“This person didn’t bring forward an accusation that could provide material for an investigation,” the Vatican’s statement quoted Servais as saying.
As such, Pope Francis “declared that there are not sufficient elements to open a canonical investigation for sexual aggression by Cardinal Ouellet against F,” Bruni’s statement said.
The Catholic Church has fine-tuned procedures to investigate and sanction priests accused of sexual misconduct with minors, but it rarely takes punitive action against clerics accused of sexual misconduct with adults.
The woman’s lawyer said her client is “very disappointed” with the Vatican’s refusal to look into the accusations.
“The next step will be to prove it in a civil court instead of a canon law trial,” lawyer Justin Wee told the BBC in a statement.
He added the Vatican did not contact his client to inform her of its decision regarding Cardinal Ouellet prior to Thursday’s announcement.
The civil lawsuit represents more than 101 people in total who allege they were sexually assaulted by members of the clergy in Quebec.
The earliest of the claims date back to 1940. Some plaintiffs allege they were minors when the assaults took place.
Cardinal Ouellet is the most prominent Roman Catholic Church member named in the lawsuit..