In Canada, the prefect of the Congregation for Bishops is accused of sexual assault on an intern for acts allegedly occurred between 2008 and 2010.
Cardinal Marc Ouellet, who holds one of the most important functions of the Vatican government, is accused of sexual assault in a collective action made public Tuesday in Canada and targeting more than 80 members of the diocese of Quebec.
The priest, current prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, inappropriately touched a trainee between 2008 and 2010 when he was archbishop of Quebec, according to a document resulting from the collective action authorized by the superior court of this French-speaking province last May.
A woman designated by the letter F.
The revelations come three weeks after a visit by Pope Francis to Canada, during which he apologized for the abuses perpetrated by Church members in residential schools for indigenous people.
Contacted by the AFP, the diocese of Quebec replied to “take note of the accusations against Cardinal Marc Ouellet” and “absolutely not comment on the subject”.
The accusations are among the testimonies of 101 people “who were sexually assaulted” by clergy and lay employees between June 1940 and today, the court documents underline.
In the case of Marc Ouellet, the complainant, designated with the letter “F.”, claims to have been attacked several times by the cardinal. He specifically says that Cardinal Marc Ouellet allegedly “kissed” her and “slipped his hand” down her back “to her buttocks” in 2010.
He denounced the “tragedy of sexual abuse committed by clerics”
In February, recalling the “tragedy of sexual abuse committed by clerics”, Cardinal Ouellet had punished, during an important symposium in the Vatican in the presence of Pope Francis, “the criminal behavior hidden for too long to protect the institution”.
“We are all torn and humiliated by these crucial questions that challenge us every day as members of the Church,” he said.
The Catholic Church is regularly the subject of revelations regarding internal sexual violence scandals.