Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet, who holds a high position in the Vatican government, was accused of sexual abuse in a class action lawsuit involving more than 80 members of the Diocese of Quebec, made public on Tuesday (16).

The clergyman, current prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, is accused of having inappropriately touched an intern between 2008 and 2010 when he was archbishop of Quebec, according to the documents of the lawsuit, admitted by the Superior Court of this French-speaking province in May.

The revelations come three weeks after a visit by Pope Francis to Canada, during which he apologized for abuses by members of the Church at residential schools for indigenous people.

Reached by AFP, the diocese of Quebec said it had “taken note of the accusations made against Cardinal Marc Ouellet” and “did not want to comment on the case at all”.

The charges are part of testimonies from 101 people “who were sexually assaulted” by clergy and lay officials between June 1940 and present, according to court documents.

In the case of Marc Ouellet, a woman identified by the letter “F. claims to have been repeatedly abused by the cardinal. According to her complaint, Ouellet allegedly “kissed” her and “slid his hand” down her back “up to her buttocks” in 2010.

In February, during an important symposium at the Vatican attended by Pope Francis, Cardinal Ouellet alluded to the “drama of sexual abuse committed by clerics” and criticized “criminal behavior long concealed to protect the institution”. “We are all divided and humbled by these critical issues, which challenge us every day as members of the Church,” he said at the time.

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© Agence France-Presse