Cardinal Marc Ouellet wins lawsuit against woman who accused him of sexual misconduct

Quebec Cardinal Marc Ouellet has won his civil defamation suit against a woman who accused him of sexual misconduct.

Superior Court Justice Martin Castonguay ruled that Paméla Groleau’s accusations against the cardinal are unfounded and ordered her to pay him $100,000.

Groleau had accused Ouellet of touching her without consent on three occasions between 2008 and 2010, while she was training or working as a lay pastoral agent for the church.

Castonguay noted in his judgment that Groleau changed her story several times, including eventually saying that she only considered one of the alleged interactions to be a sexual assault.

The judge noted that the damage to Ouellet was compounded by the fact that Groleau named him in a class-action lawsuit against the Quebec archdiocese that overwhelmingly involves clergy or lay people accused of being pedophiles.

Ouellet has promised to donate the damages he’s awarded to organizations fighting against sexual abuse experienced by Indigenous people in Canada.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 31, 2026.