Cardinal Marc Ouellet has appeared in court in Montreal at the start of a trial over alleged defamation brought against a woman who accused him of sexual misconduct in 2022.
The retired Canadian cardinal, once regarded as one of the most influential figures in the Vatican hierarchy, is seeking 100,000 Canadian dollars in damages in a civil defamation case against a woman who publicly accused him of sexual misconduct during a class-action lawsuit launched against the Archdiocese of Quebec and dozens of clergy.
The proceedings, which began on March 2 in the Superior Court of Quebec in Montreal, centre on claims made by Paméla Groleau, who alleged that Ouellet behaved inappropriately towards her during several encounters between 2008 and 2010. The cardinal has categorically denied the accusations and has brought the lawsuit in an attempt to restore what his legal filing describes as his reputation, honour and dignity.
The trial has heard testimony from witnesses who were present during some of the events cited in the allegations. Among them was the Rev Marcel Pellerin, who told the court he had introduced Groleau to Ouellet at a gathering in late 2008. Pellerin recalled that the cardinal had taken her hand and leaned in to speak to her during the introduction.
According to Pellerin’s testimony, Groleau had spoken about occasions in which the cardinal embraced her or placed a hand on her back. “She recounted other times when the cardinal took her in his arms and put his hand on her back,” Pellerin told the court. “These are things she recounted to us more than once.” He added that she had said she sometimes felt “a little bit tracked by him” at events where both were present.
The priest said hearing such accounts had surprised him because they did not correspond with his own experience of the cardinal. Several other witnesses also appeared in court as the proceedings moved through their early stages, offering recollections intended to clarify the atmosphere and circumstances surrounding the meetings in question.
Three women who had worked with Ouellet during his time in Quebec testified that they had found the allegations difficult to reconcile with their own impressions of him. Isabelle Théberge, formerly communications director for the Archdiocese of Quebec, described the cardinal as attentive and courteous in his dealings with people at public events.
“He shook hands, looked people in the eye,” Théberge said. “I felt like he wanted to use these events to show people they were important to him.” She told the court that she had been “speechless, sad and angry” when she first heard of the accusations, adding that the allegations did not correspond to the man she believed she had known.
Other witnesses gave evidence about the atmosphere of diocesan gatherings in which the encounters are said to have taken place. Sister Doris Lamontagne testified that Ouellet regularly met vast numbers of people in the course of his ministry, estimating that he encountered between 100,000 and 125,000 individuals each year during pastoral visits, meetings and public events. In that context, she said, gestures such as handshakes or placing a hand on someone’s shoulder were commonplace.
“He was very fraternal in his contacts,” she told the court.
Another witness, Michelle Gauthier, described a 2008 event in Beauport, Quebec, attended by around 200 people. The gathering, she said, had been “festive”, with the cardinal surrounded by participants seeking to greet him. She said she did not recall seeing any interaction matching the behaviour alleged in the lawsuit.
“We shake hands, we hug, we take each other by the shoulders, we embrace,” Gauthier said, explaining that such gestures were common among those working in the archdiocese. “We’ve always had that warm way of meeting each other.”
The accusations against Cardinal Ouellet first became public in 2022 when Groleau was identified in a class-action lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Quebec that alleged misconduct by numerous clerics over several decades. In that filing she accused the cardinal of sliding his hand down her back and touching her buttocks at a diocesan event. No criminal charges were laid against the Cardinal and the Vatican’s own investigation was dropped after insufficient evidence was found to corroborate the events.
Cardinal Ouellet responded by firmly denying the claims and launching a separate civil action against Groleau, arguing that the allegations had unjustly damaged his reputation.
The trial is expected to continue for several more days, with Groleau herself scheduled to testify as part of the proceedings. Her lawyer, Alain Arsenault, indicated that her evidence would address the encounters she says took place during the period when Ouellet was Archbishop of Quebec.