Quebec court rejects abuse allegations against Cardinal Ouellet, orders C$100,000 payment

Cardinal Marc Ouellet has won his defamation suit against Paméla Groleau, who accused him of sexual assault. Justice Martin Castonguay of the Quebec Superior Court issued the ruling on August 31, 2026, finding that the allegations were without foundation. He ordered Groleau to pay C$100,000, the sum the cardinal had sought, plus interest and an additional indemnity dating from December 13, 2022, when he filed the suit.

Ouellet, who served as prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops from 2010 until his retirement in 2023, said he intends to give the money to organizations that combat the sexual abuse of Indigenous peoples in Canada. "Restoring my honor and integrity is important," he said in a statement.

Origin of the allegations and the class action

The allegations against Ouellet became public in August 2022, as part of a class action against the Archdiocese of Quebec that included abuse allegations going back to 1940. Groleau, who had worked as a lay pastoral worker in the archdiocese since 2008, accused the cardinal of non-consensual physical contact between 2008 and 2010, when Ouellet was archbishop of Quebec. She gave up her anonymity in January 2023.

She alleged in particular that during a priestly ordination in 2010, Ouellet slid his hand down her back to the top of her buttocks. On August 12, days before the ruling on Ouellet, the Quebec Superior Court approved a C$31.5 million settlement in the class action.

The judge's analysis

In his ruling, Castonguay examined four alleged incidents said to have taken place at Church events where other people were present. "The evidence establishes, beyond any doubt, that the accusations against Cardinal Ouellet are unfounded," he wrote. He noted that the plaintiff had substantially changed her account of what happened.

At the trial, held in Montreal in March 2026, Groleau's credibility was central. Questioned about the incidents she had described, she acknowledged that only the one in 2010 could be considered sexual assault, and said the others should be understood as stages in the cardinal's conduct. The judge rejected that explanation and sharply questioned her credibility, saying her behavior had reached a level of recklessness that amounted to "malice."

Impact amplified by the class action

Castonguay said the effect of the allegations on the cardinal was amplified because they were brought as part of a class action, which publicly associated him with a group of people accused of serious sexual abuse. At the trial, Ouellet said he was troubled at being placed alongside people accused of very grave sexual crimes, and described the consequences for him: insomnia, stress and a deep sense of injustice.

Vatican inquiry and the civil suit

The Holy See had intervened in the case first. In 2022, after receiving the complaint, Pope Francis asked the Belgian Jesuit Jacques Servais to conduct a preliminary investigation. In August 2022, the Vatican said there were not "sufficient elements" to open a canonical investigation of Ouellet for sexual assault. The cardinal then turned to the civil courts, filing a defamation suit in December 2022 seeking C$100,000.

In his statement, Ouellet thanked the Quebec justice system for recognizing that the allegations were false and made with "extreme recklessness." He said he remains committed to fighting every form of abuse, especially sexual abuse, within the Church and in society, and offered his unconditional support to victims seeking restorative justice.

Groleau's lawyers told Radio-Canada on August 31 that they would not comment, and did not say whether they would appeal.