The Archbishop of Quebec, Cardinal Cyprien Lacroix, is the target of allegations of sexual assault against a minor. The name of the primate of Canada was added Thursday to a list of alleged attackers which was filed in Superior Court as part of the class action brought against the diocese of Quebec.
The actions accused of Mgr Lacroix concerns touching which allegedly took place between 1987 and 1988 in Quebec, on a person aged 17 at the time of the first attack. These allegations have not yet been proven in court.
Judge Bernard Godbout authorized the class action targeting the diocese of Quebec in May 2022. On Thursday, lawyers representing the victims filed a request for the class action to be expanded to include the Séminaire de Québec, the Oeuvre du Grand Séminaire de Québec, the Collège François-de-Laval (also known as the Petit Séminaire of Quebec) and the Mutual Insurance of Fabriques of Quebec.
According to the Arsenault Dufresne Wee law firm, which represents the victims with the support of the Bellemare Avocats law firm, negotiations took place between the parties in 2022 and 2023. These talks, however, did not lead to an agreement.
A hundred alleged attackers
To date, 147 alleged victims have come forward as part of this collective action. More than a hundred priests or staff members are targeted by the allegations.
Among them is Cardinal Marc Ouellet, formerly head of the Congregation for Bishops (also called the Dicastery for Bishops) at the Vatican. In January 2023, Pamela Groleau came out of the shadows to publicly denounce the unsolicited touching that she says she suffered from Cardinal Ouellet between 2008 and 2012. The woman, who was in her twenties at the time of the alleged acts, was trainee pastoral agent in the diocese of Quebec. Marc Ouellet refuted having committed these actions.
On Thursday, the Stein Monast cabinet refused to react to the allegations against Cardinal Cyprien Lacroix. As for the diocese of Quebec, it did not respond to requests from Duty.
When he was named archbishop of Quebec in 2011, Mgr Lacroix automatically became the Primate of Canada, an honorary title. In Rome, the 66-year-old is a member of several constituent bodies of the Roman Curia, including the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life and the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.
A previous version of this article reported actions criticized by Cardinal Gérald Cyprien Lacroix as cited in legal documents filed in court. These documents turned out to be erroneous: the only actions the cardinal was accused of concerned touching.