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Reuters
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis has determined that there is not enough evidence to open a church investigation into Canada's Cardinal Marc Ouellet over sexual assault allegations, the Vatican City said in a statement Thursday. Stated.
Ouellet, a prominent Vatican official, filed a class action lawsuit this week against the Catholic Diocese of Quebec, alleging instances of sexual assault by some 88 priests and officials who had worked in the diocese since 1940.
In a filing with the Superior Court of Quebec, the anonymous plaintiff alleges that Ouellet touched her inappropriately, and that between 2008 and 2010 Ouellet was in Quebec. Archbishop and intern she is 23 years old.
The Vatican was informed of the allegations against Ouellet in his 2021, and Francis appointed a priest investigator, Jacques Servais, to look into the case. According to the Vatican, Servais later advised against launching a full church investigation.
"After further relevant consultations, Pope Francis has declared that there were not enough factors to initiate a formal investigation into the sexual assault by Cardinal Ouellet," said a Vatican statement. 26}
Ouellet heads the Vatican's powerful bishopric and advises the Pope on which priests should be made bishops. He is on many experts' short lists as possible successors to Pope Francis after his death or resignation.
The Pope made his six-day visit to Canada last month and Rome. He apologized to indigenous peoples for abuses in public schools run by the Catholic Church.
(Reporting by Crispian Balmer, Editing by Philip Pullella and Frances Kerry)
