Pope rejects trial against Canadian cardinal
According to the Pope, there are not “sufficient elements” to re-investigate Cardinal Mark Olette. He was accused of inappropriately touching a coach.
Pope Francis speaks with Cardinal Mark Ouellet of Canada at the Vatican on February 17, 2022.
AFP
Pope Francis has rejected a new trial against Canadian Cardinal Mark Olette, accused of sexual abuse in his country, for lack of “sufficient evidence,” Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni announced Thursday.
“Pope Francis declares that there are insufficient elements to open a canonical inquiry (religious, editor’s note) for the sexual abuse of Cardinal Ouellet against person F.”, the complainant was named, the spokesman said in a brief statement.
Marc Ouellet, the 78-year-old current prefect of the Council of Bishops, one of the most important jobs in the Vatican government, has been accused of inappropriately touching a trainee when he was archbishop of Quebec between 2008 and 2010. From the collective action approved by the French-speaking province’s Supreme Court last May.
Not enough components
F., who claims to have been sexually abused by another priest, told the Diocese of Quebec’s advisory committee on sexual abuse. The organization suggests he write a letter to Pope Francis. In 2021, the sovereign papacy responded by appointing “Father Jacques Servais to investigate Cardinal Marc Olette.”
It was on the basis of the evidence collected by Father Servais that the Pope decided to set aside the investigation against Bishop Ouellet, Mr. Bruni mentions.
The spokesman notes that Father Servais, whose preliminary investigation concluded with insufficient elements, was contacted again by the Pope, who received assurances that there was no reason to continue the practice.
Unusually, the statement, written in Italian, is quoted in French by Pope-like Jesuit Father Servais. “By card F. There is no basis for initiating an investigation into the sexual assault of the person. Mr. Ouellet,” he says.
“Neither in his written statement to the Holy Father nor in the testimony I gathered via Zoom before members of the Diocesan Ad Hoc Committee did he make any allegation that warrants such an investigation. wrote Father Servais, quoted in a Vatican press release.
AFP
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