The pope will not open a canonical investigation against the cardinal Marc Ouellet, current prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, who was accused of inappropriately touching a woman between 2008 and 2010 then Archbishop of Quebec.

According to the explanations of the Press Office of the Holy See, The Pope considered that “there are not enough elements” to investigate the cardinal.

“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 reached by the pontiff based on the “preliminary investigation commissioned by the pope” prepared by the priest Jacques Servais, a theologian in charge of investigating the case, who in turn considered that “there are no elements to initiate a trial against Cardinal Ouellet for sexual assault”.

The director of the Vatican’s press office quoted Servais and also pointed out that the plaintiff made no “accusation which would provide material for such an investigation”, “neither in her report written and sent to the Holy Father, nor in the testimony via Zoom” collected by this priest “in the presence of a member of the diocesan committee”.

According to the documents of the legal action admitted by the Superior Court of Quebec last May, Ouellet was charged with sexual assault in a class action lawsuit made public last Tuesday in Canada and which involves more than 80 members of the Diocese of Quebec.

The Canadian cardinal was accused by a woman identified as “F.” in court documents filed Tuesday of having played various unwanted touching, including running her hand behind her back and touching her buttocks at an event in 2010 in Quebec.

The complaint against Ouellet is one of two class actions filed by the law firm Arsenault Dufresne Wee Avocats, based in Montreal. Both class actions were recently authorized by a Quebec judge and the law firm has 90 days to file introductory documents detailing the alleged crimes.

One of the lawyers considered in an interview who it is “inevitable” that the class action lawsuits his company has filed will lead to more people filing lawsuits against the Church in the weeks to come.

In the first trial, in which Ouellet is named, Some 88 priests or diocesan personnel were accused by 101 people of sexual assault. The Archdiocese of Quebec said in a statement Tuesday that it was aware of the allegations, but declined to comment.

(With information from EuropaPress)

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