A Quebec Superior Court judge has ruled in favour of Cardinal Marc Ouellet in a defamation lawsuit involving Paméla Groleau, ordering her to pay $100,000 in damages.
Ouellet launched the lawsuit after Groleau identified him in a 2022 class-action case involving allegations of sexual misconduct within the Quebec City Catholic diocese.
Groleau claimed that she encountered Ouellet several times between 2008 and 2010 while working or training as a lay pastoral agent. She alleged that the cardinal behaved inappropriately toward her, including unwanted physical contact.
She initially made the allegations anonymously to a church advisory committee in 2008. In 2021, she also submitted a complaint to Pope Francis, but it was rejected the following year. She subsequently became part of the 2022 class-action lawsuit.
Justice Martin Castonguay dismissed Groleau’s allegations, concluding that her account was not credible. The judge said her conduct toward Ouellet was reckless and possibly malicious and that she had failed to act as a reasonable person would have.
Ouellet has pledged to donate any money awarded through the lawsuit to efforts addressing sexual abuse experienced by Indigenous people in Canada.
PRESS UPDATE