Six months after being targeted by allegations of sexual abuse, the Archbishop of Quebec, Cardinal Gérald Cyprien Lacroix, announced Monday that he had been reinstated in his duties.
“It was a difficult journey, but the conclusions of Judge Denis’ investigation, the support of those around me and the opportunity to make myself heard [en Cour supérieure] which could result from the request for intervention lead me to calmly resume my ministry,” declared Mgr Lacroix in a press release.
On January 25, Cardinal Lacroix’s name appeared on an updated list of alleged assailants filed in the Superior Court of Quebec as part of the class action brought by victims of sexual abuse against the Diocese of Quebec. The alleged victim claims to have been sexually assaulted in 1987 and 1988, when she was 17 years old.
On January 26, after having “categorically” denied the alleged actions, Mgr Lacroix announced that he was temporarily withdrawing from his activities “until the situation is clarified.”
A few days later, on February 8, Pope Francis mandated André Denis, a retired judge of the Superior Court of Quebec, to conduct a preliminary investigation into the allegations against the Archbishop of Quebec.
The victim’s lawyer, Alain Arsenault, then announced that his client refused to participate in the exercise. He argued that the victim’s wish to participate in a collective action rather than a Vatican investigation should be respected.
Investigation
In his report made public on May 21, former judge Denis mentioned that he cannot attribute to Bishop Lacroix “responsibility for the acts” he is accused of. “The elements gathered during my investigation make it implausible that the acts attributed to the cardinal occurred,” he wrote, specifying that he had not recommended to Pope Francis that a canonical trial be held.
He added, however, that he was unable to say “whether the alleged act took place or not,” since the victim had refused to cooperate with the investigation and to provide him with any information on the alleged acts. “The plaintiff’s refusal to cooperate in the slightest degree with my investigation leaves me helpless,” he lamented.
In the weeks following the filing of the investigation report, Cardinal Lacroix filed a request to intervene to become a stakeholder in the class action filed in Superior Court. According to the Diocese of Quebec, the court should render its decision on this request in the coming months. This status would allow Bishop Lacroix to speak in court.
The Diocese of Quebec also announced Monday that the handling of the abuse allegations and the management of the class action would now pass from the hands of Bishop Lacroix to those of Bishop Marc Pelchat, auxiliary bishop in Quebec, “out of respect for the judicial process in which [Mgr Lacroix] is called into question.
The Archbishop of Quebec is returning to his duties in time to preside over the annual Mass for the feast of Saint Anne at the Sainte-Anne-de Beaupré shrine this Friday.