The alleged victim of Cardinal Marc Ouellet is not giving up despite the $100,000 lawsuit for defamation against her and intends to bring her fight to an end, she said this morning.
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“I survive. I live from day to day”, launched the one who is called Mme F, to protect his anonymity, during a joint interview with TVA Nouvelles and the Log.
On August 16, 101 alleged victims – they are now 134 since December 1 – launched a class action against a hundred priests and people from the diocese of Quebec for alleged acts committed between 1942 and 2018.
Of the number, Mme F accuses Cardinal Ouellet of “unsolicited touching and inappropriate comments making her so uncomfortable as to stop participating in the events” which would have been committed at four times from 2008 to 2010 while she was an intern in the diocese .
Three days later the cardinal denied the accusations en bloc. Finally, on December 13, he filed a $100,000 defamation suit against Ms. F.
Journey
“I filed a complaint two years ago with the advisory committee of the diocese of Quebec. My identity was known to them, but I had not yet named the person I was denouncing the gestures. Things happened quickly afterwards,” she says.
Facing the committee, she felt “in a vacuum, without answers to my questions, not really knowing what was going to happen. It was a bit new for them from what I understood.
“I presented myself there in a state of research, of questioning. I let myself be carried away by that. If I had to do it again, I wouldn’t do it again,” adds the one who is still a pastoral worker.
A complaint to the pope left him with the same impression after the remote meeting with the person responsible for handling it.
As for the leaks that allowed Cardinal Ouellet to identify and prosecute her, she does not know where they came from, but believes that the committee respected her confidentiality.
“I experienced different pressures afterwards, threats”. For the rest of the legal process, she did not want to go into details about the threats, but claims to have anonymous letters.
Solicitation
Last week, M.me F launched a crowdfunding campaign on gofundme.
“The primary goal is to raise the amount requested by his eminence. But the objective is also to make visible the momentum of solidarity behind me. It’s also a way to support me for people who can’t express themselves publicly or for my loved ones who don’t want to reveal my identity,” says Ms.me f.
More details to come