By Présence, OSV News
MONTREAL (OSV News) — The judge’s verdict in a Canadian defamation suit brought by Cardinal Marc Ouellet against Paméla Groleau, a former lay pastoral worker in the Archdiocese of Québec, who accused the prelate of sexual misconduct, is not expected for some months.
Proceedings in the case took place at Montreal’s courthouse in early March, with Judge Martin Castonguay presiding.
Throughout the trial, Cardinal Ouellet reproached Groleau for publicly accusing him of sexually assaulting her in 2008, when the cardinal was archbishop of Quebec and she was employed by the archdiocese as a pastoral worker.
He referenced documents from a class-action lawsuit filed against the Archdiocese of Quebec that named him in a list of alleged abusers. The suit was initiated in August 2020, when two men who claimed they were sexually assaulted as minors by diocesan priests applied in the Superior Court of Québec to authorize instituting a class-action lawsuit.
It was formally filed as a class-action suit in May 2022 and listed over 100 clergy and staff members who were accused of abuse, including the cardinal.
In a statement issued Aug, 18, 2022, Matteo Bruni, director of the Press Office of the Holy See, declared that there would be no Vatican “investigation for sexual assault” regarding Cardinal Ouellet, saying there were “insufficient elements to open a canonical investigation for sexual assault by Cardinal Ouellet against person F,” as Groleau was identified at the time.
Origins of defamation suit
In December 2022, Cardinal Ouellet, now 81, announced the defamation suit, saying he intended to demonstrate sex abuse allegations that had been made against him were false and he wanted to restore his reputation and honor. The former archbishop of Québec (2003-2010) was prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops under Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis.
In January 2023, the pastoral worker “F” revealed her identity publicly as Paméla Groleau.”
“I’m in this fight because I want to be proud of my institution,” she said at a press conference. “I dream of (a Church) that defends the weak, the poor, the wounded.”
At the March 2-10 trial, Cardinal Ouellet in his testimony also cited articles from various media in Québec that had reported he was allegedly accused of sexual assault by the then-anonymous “F.” No press articles were shown supporting that Groleau herself accused him of sexual assault.
On the first day, Cardinal Ouellet repeated that the “interpretation and broadcast” of the allegations against him were slanderous and declared he had been “instrumentalized for the sake of the (class action).” He noted again that the allegations associated him with pedophiles and very grave abuse aimed at children.
Groleau’s account of her allegations
On March 5, Groleau was examined and cross-examined. She recounted her career in the Archdiocese of Québec as an intern and later a lay pastoral worker. The actions she reported concerning Cardinal Ouellet, her former superior as archbishop, took place between 2008 and 2010. She described them to the court.
During a pastoral meeting in the archdiocese, Groleau stated, she felt someone “vigorously” massage her shoulders, and recognized Cardinal Ouellet, who smiled at her, caressed her back and left.
She also repeated what she had written to Pope Francis about her alleged abuse, explaining that each time the cardinal “was present, he would greet me with (a) kiss while caressing my back.” This overly familiar manner made her uneasy to the point of fearing public events, she said.
On another occasion, the cardinal allegedly whispered in her ear, “We’ve already seen each other twice this week. But I can kiss you again. There’s no harm in treating myself a little.”
Finally, another time, Cardinal Ouellet allegedly kissed her and slid his hand down her back, on her lower back, just above her buttocks but close enough to warrant not “being touched by a stranger and even less by one’s boss.”
In cross-examination, she hesitated about the duration of the shoulder massage, but maintained that the hand near her buttocks could be the only action defined as inappropriate touching. This distinction does not appear in the class-action documents.
Cardinal Ouellet denies recalling any incidents described
Cardinal Ouellet insisted that he did not recall any of the incidents described by Groleau.
“It’s not my manner of acting with unknown women,” he said.
The cardinal’s attorney, Dominique Ménard, deemed Groleau unreliable and inconsistent, while accusing her and her lawyers of knowingly spreading the plural accusation of “sexual assaults” in the media to affect the cardinal’s reputation. One of Groleau’s attorneys, Justin Wee, countered that they had no control over media coverage.
Judge Castonguay seemed annoyed at the discrepancies with the initial court documents. To Wee’s suggestion that the cardinal’s whispers had a sexual connotation, Castonguay replied that they could be equated with the remarks of a “dirty old uncle,” but that he had a problem calling them “remarks of a sexual nature.”
Should the judge rule in his favor, Cardinal Ouellet has promised the damages he is asking for $100,000 (in Canadian dollars), would be fully donated “for the benefit of the fight against sexual abuse suffered by Indigenous Peoples in Canada.”
Additional testimony against the cardinal
Two other women testified to similar inappropriate actions by Cardinal Ouellet. One of them, Marie-Louise Moreau, 84, alleged an assault in 1992, when she was a volunteer at the Major Seminary of Montreal.
While arranging bookmarks and missals on a table in the sacristy, Moreau testified, she felt then-Father Ouellet, a Sulpician priest, behind her. In Moreau’s account, he placed his hands on the table on each side of her and “rubbed his pelvis against her buttocks.” She removed herself, exited the room and left the seminary.
For a long time, she avoided the area, in fear of running into Father Ouellet, according to Moreau. More than 30 years later, she said, the incident still haunts her.
Cardinal Ouellet insisted he was not the person Moreau testified about.
The other witness, Mélissa Trépanier, was a longtime friend of Cardinal Ouellet. She considered him a “spiritual father” and admired him much. On July 7, 2014, she received a phone call from the cardinal who invited her and her fiancé to his home while he was visiting Québec City. During the evening, the couple mentioned their financial troubles to him.
“The evening went well,” according to Trépanier, but “during a second hug,” the cardinal “hastily thrust” a $50 bill in her sweater, “level with the top of my chest.” She explained that she “froze and he stopped. Then, he pushed it a little further.” And, she added, “too far.”
Trépanier said she never spoke of the incident.
“I was afraid it would get out, and I especially didn’t want to ruin Msgr. Ouellet’s reputation, which is so fragile in Québec,” she said.
Cardinal Ouellet concedes ‘mistake’ in 1 incident, but claims no sexual intent
On the stand, she recalled writing an email to Cardinal Ouellet following the evening, asking him to never again act in such a way with her or anyone else.
“Don’t forget that you represent the Church,” she wrote. “Please show some restraint and keep your hands to yourself.”
She related that the cardinal had answered that he was “flabbergasted” to learn of what she was rebuking him for and wrote, “If I offended you, I beg your pardon.” According to Trépanier, he didn’t recognize the gravity of his action.
Trépanier, like Groleau, was advised by Cardinal Gérald Lacroix, the current archbishop of Québec, to write a letter to Pope Francis about the incident. Trépanier explained that in her letter, she specified that she “didn’t want to lodge a complaint, unless you ask me to do so.”
Cardinal Ouellet admitted on the stand to his lawyer that the event with Trépanier was an “unfortunate move” on his part.
“I made a mistake,” he said, maintaining it had no sexual connotation.
Présence is a French-language religion news outlet based in Montreal. This story was originally published in French by Présence. It is translated into English by Présence, with some additional information from Catholic News Service files, and is distributed through a partnership with OSV News.
