Vatican finds ‘insufficient elements’ to open investigation into Cardinal Ouellet
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Title: Vatican finds ‘insufficient elements’ to open investigation into Cardinal Ouellet
200000048 – World Newser
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Vatican finds ‘insufficient elements’ to open investigation into Cardinal Ouellet
(RNS) — The Vatican will not open an investigation into Cardinal Marc Ouellet, the prominent Canadian Catholic leader who was accused of sexual misconduct as part of a class-action lawsuit filed this week in Quebec.
According to reporting in The Washington Post and The New York Times, the woman, identified as F. in court filings, has accused Ouellet, who was archbishop of Quebec from 2002-2010, of inappropriately touching her lower back and kissing her on the cheek during public events that took place in 2010 and 2008.
As noted in a statement released by the Vatican on Thursday (Aug. 18), Pope Francis has declared that there are “insufficient elements to open a canonical investigation” into the actions of the 78-year-old cardinal, who has served in his position as head of the Dicastery for Bishops (formerly called the Congregation for Bishops) for more than a decade.
In that position, Ouellet has worked closely with Francis in the selection of bishops worldwide.
The pope’s conclusion not to open an investigation, according to the Vatican’s statement, comes after a report filed by the Rev. Jacques Servais, a Jesuit priest who serves as director of Casa Balthazar, an international center for spiritual discernment in Rome.
Matteo Bruni, director of the Holy See Press Office, notes that Servais collected testimony from the woman via Zoom, in the presence of a member of the ad hoc diocesan committee, after which he filed a written report concluding the woman did not “make an accusation that would provide material for such an investigation.”
Ouellet is one of 88 clergy named as part of the Canadian lawsuit that brings allegations of sexual assault from over 100 people against clergy and other archdiocesan staff dating back to 1940.
The woman identified as F. continues to work as an employee with the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Quebec.
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