ROME — A Vatican cardinal sued a Canadian woman for defamation in a Canadian court on Tuesday after she accused him of sexual assault while he was archbishop of Quebec.
The woman, identified only as F., was one of several people who brought a class-action lawsuit against the archdiocese of Quebec in August that accused several priests, including Ouellet, of sexual abuse or assault. F. accused Ouellet of inappropriate, sexual touches on four occasions in the late 2000s.
His lawsuit said that even if the allegations were true, the woman’s specific claims about his alleged behavior could not be construed as “sexual assault” or sexual abuse of minors, which are other crimes included in the class-action lawsuit. It said he had experienced “significant psychological anguish” since the woman’s allegations went public and that his international reputation was “seriously tarnished.”after a priest investigator interviewed F. and determined there weren’t grounds for further investigation. The Vatican said the investigator determined the woman didn’t bring forward accusations that warranted it.
Good