Church-led probe finds no misconduct from Quebec cardinal after plaintiff declines to testify

A retired judge appointed by the Pope to investigate allegations of sexual assault against Cardinal Gérald Cyprien Lacroix, the Archbishop of Quebec, says he found no evidence of misconduct.

The report for André Denis's preliminary canonical investigation was completed on May 6 and transferred to Pope Francis days later. Denis received the mandate from the Pope on Feb. 8 to determine whether allegations against Lacroix were substantial enough to warrant a church-led trial.

The alleged incidents involving Lacroix are alleged to have taken place between 1987 and 1988 in Quebec City when the plaintiff was 17. Her identity is protected because she was a minor at the time of the alleged incidents.

Lacroix is accused of touching her without her consent. In an interview with CBC in March, the plaintiff's lawyer, Alain Arsenault, said Lacroix also forced his client into oral and penetrative sex.

Denis said the plaintiff repeatedly refused to meet with him to give her testimony or to hand over a blacked-out copy of her initial report, which hindered his investigation. He said he relied on statements given to the media by the plaintiff's lawyer, archival documents and extensive interviews with Lacroix and "dozens" of people relevant to the case.

Lacroix denied all allegations, said he never could he have lived with such a secret and "never could he have done that to the church that is all his life," the retired judge told journalists at a news conference Tuesday.

Archive documents showed Lacroix wasn't a priest yet in 1987, said Denis.

"According to my information, it doesn't concord with him meeting with a woman," he said. "Nothing in the archives show any meeting of this type by him at the time. His file is without fault," Denis said.

People interviewed by Denis said they didn't believe he would commit acts of sexual misconduct.

Former Quebec Superior Court justice André Denis was tasked by the Pope to investigate allegations of sexual assault against Cardinal Gérald Cyprien Lacroix, the Archbishop of Quebec. (Submitted by André Denis)

Denis concluded there was no evidence linking Lacroix to the allegations against him. However, he admitted that his conclusions "do not have the same value they would have" had he spoken to the plaintiff.

"You could say" the investigation is incomplete, he said.

The Vatican said in a statement published Tuesday that it is not planning "further canonical procedure."

On Jan. 26, 2024, Lacroix stepped back from his functions "until the situation is cleared up."

If the plaintiff changes her mind and decides to testify, the investigation could be reopened and her identity will remain confidential, said Denis.

Class-action lawsuit

The probe was part of a wider investigation following a class-action lawsuit targeting the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Quebec with 147 plaintiffs alleging incidents of sexual misconduct involving clergy members, staff and volunteers from Jan. 1, 1940 to the present.

The Diocese said it recognizes that this suit has merit for a number of the plaintiffs and hopes to reach an out-of-court settlement as soon as possible.

Despite numerous lengthy out-of-court attempts to settle the dispute in Quebec Superior Court, no settlement has been reached to date, Denis said in a news release. The case is currently on hold for several months.

The plaintiffs asked to amend the initial proceedings to include new defendants other than the Diocese of Quebec. THe motion will be heard at the end of November.

Denis said the probe into the allegations shows that the allegations are taken seriously.

He studied nearly 10,000 files of sexual abuse allegations in Quebec's Church dating from 1940 to 2021 and authored a report revealing that 87 employees had been the subject of confirmed or substantiated allegations of sexual abuse involving minors or vulnerable adults.

The retired judge was also tasked by the Pope last year to investigate sexual abuse allegations against Inuit children in Nunavut.