“The calls are increasing” to the ombudsman of the archdiocese of Montreal, Marie Christine Kirouack, since the media coverage Tuesday of allegations of sexual assault concerning the Quebec cardinal Marc Ouellet.
“I have women who have contacted me to say: ‘She had the courage, I’m going to do it too'”, confides Me Kirouack to the To have to. In a telephone interview around 11 a.m. Wednesday, she said she had received “three formal complaints since yesterday” from women who decided on the sexual abuse they claim to have suffered from members of the Catholic clergy in Montreal after having read the “significant accusations” that were made public on Tuesday concerning Cardinal Marc Ouellet.
“And in some cases, it brought out a lot of pain,” she adds.
As part of a class action initiated in 2020 and filed Tuesday at the Quebec City courthouse, a young woman designated by the letter “F” testifies to having been sexually assaulted by the powerful Cardinal Marc Ouellet, now 78 years old, and whose name has already been mentioned to become pope.
The lady reports having been hired in 2008 as an intern as a pastoral agent in the diocese of Quebec. She was then 23 years old.
In the procedure, she indicates in particular that Marc Ouellet massaged her shoulders and stroked her back, or even kissed her “familiarly” by holding her against him to stroke her back. On another occasion, she claims to have the impression of being “chased”, as he crosses an entire room to go and sit next to her, while she had taken care to settle away from him. . The cardinal would also have kissed the young woman and slid his hand down her back to her buttocks.
In this context, Me Kirouack indicates that she was not surprised by the increase in calls to her office in the last 24 hours in connection with allegations concerning various members of the clergy. ” It does not surprise me. What came out were important accusations against a cardinal […] It has a domino effect”, indicates the ombudsman, who recalls the important hierarchical role of Cardinal Marc Ouellet.
11 complaints, 22 victims
Ombudsman Marie Christine Kirouack, who was hired by the Archdiocese of Montreal in May 2021 to investigate allegations of abuse involving members of the clergy, released her fourth report on Wednesday since taking office. This draws up an inventory as of July 31, 2022.
The ombudsman indicates that she forwarded to an advisory committee 11 complaints concerning as many members of the clergy that she first received personally. These complaints implicate “at least 22 victims” who, among other things, have suffered psychological and sexual abuse in recent decades. Four of them were minors at the time of the alleged abuse.
In all cases, the alleged aggressors are members of the clergy “who were in office or who still had faculties” at the time of the filing of the complaint with the ombudsman, indicates the latter to the To have to.
More details will follow…
With Stephanie Marin