“I am no longer F, I am Pamela Groleau. The alleged victim of Cardinal Marc Ouellet comes out of the shadows and denounces the internal procedures of the Church in the treatment of complaints regarding sexual assault.
“I have been fighting for more than two years against an institution which, through threats and intimidation, tries to silence me,” said Pamela Groleau, a 38-year-old pastoral worker, who is presented to the media on Wednesday with a cross around his neck.
“I am waging this fight to regain my dignity which was torn from me, but also, and above all, because I am a member and representative of this Church and I still believe in its relevance. »
Pamela Groleau, designated by the letter “F” in legal documents, claims to have suffered unsolicited touching from Cardinal Ouellet when she was a pastoral trainee in the diocese of Quebec, between 2008 and 2010. She was then 23 years.
He would have “massaged” her, would have “caressed” her back and would have “slid” her hand “up to her buttocks”. He would have “kissed” her with “familiarity” telling her that he could well “spoil himself”, as summarized in a court document. These allegations have yet to be proven in court.
Mme Groleau joined last May in a collective action for sexual assaults which targets 88 priests of the diocese of Quebec, an action led by lawyer Alain Arsenault.
When these allegations were made public last August, Cardinal Ouellet firmly denied having committed such acts. He countered in December with a $100,000 defamation suit against Mr.me Groleau. In this document, he “categorically denies” the facts of which he is accused and indicates that these “cannot be qualified as a sexual assault”. F’s anonymity was protected by the court until January 12, 2023. She chose to continue the fight openly.
Internal procedures
Initially, as a Church employee, Ms.me Groleau naturally and “very naively” turned to the bodies set up by the institution. However, these did not live up to his expectations. In 2021, she met with the advisory committee of the Diocese of Quebec, made up of volunteers.
“When he learned that it was Marc Ouellet who was targeted by one of my testimonies, the committee asked me to write to His Holiness,” she explains. This is a procedure provided for by canon law. No one was able to explain to her what a canonical investigation consisted of, she laments. His second complaint, which concerns another priest, followed the normal route to the Chancellery.
Without commenting on the specific situation of Mr.me Groleau, the Diocese of Quebec recalls that “situations concerning a member of the diocesan Church are handled according to the protocol applied by an advisory committee made up of independent persons”. The advisory committee “accompanies people with allegations throughout the evaluation” and works “with a lot of humanity, respect, listening and diligence”, we add.
“We have confidence in this independent and confidential process for dealing with allegations applied by the advisory committee of the Archdiocese of Quebec,” we summarize.
Vatican investigation
In the weeks following the sending of her letter to the pope, Ms.me Groleau was contacted by a Vatican priest – an acquaintance of Marc Ouellet, according to her – who offered her “a discussion between good Christians”.
According to her, the interview, held on Zoom, would have lasted only 30 to 45 minutes, and the priest would have asked her very few questions about the alleged facts. “From the outset, he told me that if it was just him, he would not have met me, but that it was His Holiness the Pope who absolutely wanted him to meet me”, argued the pastoral worker.
When he learned that it was Marc Ouellet who was targeted by one of my testimonies, the committee asked me to write to His Holiness
“He told me several times […] that he had no experience in it. He was also said to have “Recommended confidentiality on several occasions”. Then, more news.
In an interview, Mr.me Groleau says he found the process very difficult. “I experienced it as a second assault,” she says. It was very disturbing, very painful. »
Threats and intimidation
It is therefore out of spite, she says, that she joined the collective action. “After trying the internal denunciation processes of the Diocese of Quebec and the Vatican, I turned, at the end of my resources, to civil justice. »
In August, within days of publicizing his allegations, a statement from the Holy See’s Press Office indicated that there were “no grounds to open an investigation into the sexual assault of Person F by the Cardinal Ouellet”.
Pamela Groleau also claims to have felt threatened and intimidated by representatives of the Church, in particular to make her withdraw from the collective action. She still fears for her job as a pastoral worker. “I hope it won’t have an impact, but of course it’s always a fear, because my bishop’s boss is Marc Ouellet. »
Asked about the threats and intimidation allegedly suffered by Mme Groleau, the diocese of Quebec responds that it does not condone such actions. “We condemn any conduct that undermines the dignity of people, any gestures that injure moral, spiritual and physical integrity. »
Mme Groleau invites the Church to “welcome anyone who claims to be a victim with neutral, impartial, independent, rigorous and professional mechanisms”. It also invites citizens, believers or not, to “demand immediate changes, to demand that the Vatican and the dioceses modify their own protocol and collaborate openly and transparently with the victims and their representatives”.
Amicable settlement conference
Regarding the class action brought against the Diocese of Quebec, the parties have opted for an amicable settlement conference. Two days of negotiations are scheduled for the end of January.
The Diocese of Quebec indicates “to collaborate in the legal process of the collective action […] hoping that it will make it possible to arrive at a just settlement which favors the healing of the victims”.
Asked by journalists about the possibility that the name of Marc Ouellet be removed from the list of priests accused in the class action, lawyer Alain Arsenault responds categorically.
“It is out of the question that we negotiate by withdrawing his name. It’s not even a subject of negotiation. »
The defamation case filed by the Cardinal himself will follow its own path through the courts.
The Vatican did not wish to answer the questions of the To have to. The Holy See Press Room referred The duty to press releases and articles in Italian already published on their site, indicating that there was “nothing to add”.