Cardinal Marc Ouellet wins defamation lawsuit in Quebec

A Quebec Superior Court judge has ruled in favor of Cardinal Marc Ouellet in a civil defamation lawsuit, ordering Paméla Groleau to pay $100,000 in damages. The ruling follows allegations made by Groleau, a former lay pastoral agent, who accused the former Archbishop of Quebec of sexual misconduct involving non-consensual physical contact between 2008 and 2010.

Justice Martin Castonguay determined that the accusations were unfounded. In his judgment, the judge noted that Groleau’s account lacked credibility, pointing out that she changed her story several times during the proceedings. Specifically, while she initially cited three separate incidents, she eventually testified that only one interaction, occurring during a priestly ordination in 2010, constituted sexual assault.

The court found that the damage to Ouellet’s reputation was exacerbated by the fact that Groleau had named him in a class-action lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Quebec involving various allegations of abuse.