Shocked by allegations concerning sexual assaults he allegedly committed on a 17-year-old victim, Cardinal Gérald Cyprien Lacroix announces that he is “temporarily” withdrawing from his activities “until the situation is clarified”.
“He categorically denies the allegations against him since yesterday, which he considers unfounded,” writes the diocese of Quebec in a press release published Friday on its website.
On Thursday, the name of Cardinal Gérald Cyprien Lacroix, primate of the Catholic Church of Canada, was added to court documents listing alleged sexual assaults, as part of a major class action.
The document filed in court specifies that the alleged assaults were committed in 1987 and 1988, in Quebec. However, these allegations of touching have not yet been tested in court.
The diocese of Quebec said it understood the cardinal’s choice to withdraw, a decision “which it welcomes with sadness”, adding that its collaborators will take over “the tasks linked to the diocesan mission”.
The cardinal should address the diocesans of Quebec “in the coming days” and his message will then be relayed to the media, indicates the diocese.
“The diocesan authorities will continue to move forward in the process of collective action, with respect for the truth and with the aim of offering reparation to survivors of sexual abuse,” it is also explained.
Several other members of the clergy targeted
In an interview on Thursday, the lawyer leading the collective action in question, Alain Arsenault, recalled that the identity of his client at the origin of these allegations is protected.
“His parents were very religious people. The events occurred during biblical meetings that Mr. Lacroix hosted. He took her to another location and allegedly told her not to tell her mother because it would kill her. She waited until her mother died before contacting us,” the lawyer explained.
Me Arseneault also specified that Cardinal Lacroix would be summoned to a preliminary interrogation which should take place this year.
The collective action led by the Arsenault Dufresne Wee firm now has 147 members who have so far denounced alleged attacks by more than a hundred priests or staff members of the diocese of Quebec. The sexual assaults are believed to have been committed between 1942 and 2018.
In addition to Cardinal Lacroix, several other members of the high clergy are targeted. One of the plaintiffs, Paméla Groleau, says for example that she was touched by Cardinal Marc Ouellet, Cardinal Lacroix’s predecessor at the archbishopric of Quebec. The latter denied it outright.
The lawyers also added other defendants on Thursday, in addition to the Archbishopric of Quebec, namely the Séminaire de Québec, the Œuvre du Grand Séminaire, the Collège François-de-Laval as well as the Assurance Mutuel des Fabriques de Québec.
With Gabriel Béland, The Press