Pope Francis considers that “there are not enough elements” to investigate Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet, prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, for sexual abuse, after the complaint lodged in the Vatican by a former colleague from the diocese of Quebec, the Holy See Press Office said today.

“Pope Francis declares that there are insufficient elements to open a canonical investigation into the sexual assault of Cardinal Ouellet,” Vatican Press Office director Matteo Bruni said in a statement.

Bruni explained that these are the conclusions obtained after “the preliminary investigation entrusted by the pope” to the priest Jacques Servais, the theologian in charge of investigating the case, who estimated that “there are no elements to initiate a lawsuit against Cardinal Ouellet for sexual assault”.

The director of the Vatican’s press office also quoted Servais and said the whistleblower made “no accusation that would provide material for such an investigation,” “nor in her written report sent to the Holy Father, nor in the testimony via Zoom.” “picked up by this priest” in the presence of a member of the diocesan committee”.

Ouellet, one of the most powerful positions in the Vatican, is accused of sexual abuse in Canada by a woman who had a scholarship as a pastoral agent from 2008 to 2010, according to a Radio Canada investigation.

His name appears in a class action lawsuit involving 87 other church members and which was filed by 100 victims, many of whom were minors at the time of the events which unfolded largely in the 1950s and 1950s.

At the time of the events, he was archbishop and had the final say on hiring staff.

The lawsuit against Ouellet was filed directly with the Vatican in 2021 and, although a meeting was arranged between the Holy See and the victim, a year and a half later the latter assures that she was not informed of the survey results.

The cardinal was called to Rome and appointed in June 2010 prefect of the Dicastery of Bishops, the body which selects these senior ecclesiastical officials and then transmits the names of the elected to the pope so that he can make the final decision. (YO)