Cardinal Lacroix cleared by inquiry into allegations

A judge did not find "actions that amount to misconduct or abuse on the part of Cardinal Gérald C. Lacroix. Consequently, no further canonical procedure is foreseen," announced a press release from the Vatican press office on May 21, 2024. No comment had been released from Canada, given that it was 6:00 a.m. in Quebec (the diocese of which Cardinal Lacroix is archbishop) when Rome's press release was issued. 

The name of Cardinal Gérald Cyprien Lacroix, Archbishop of Quebec, appeared last January in a list of members of the Catholic Church in Canada implicated in a class-action lawsuit that brings together the complaints of 147 potential victims. He was accused of sexual assault by a person (who remains anonymous) who was 17 years old at the time of the events (in 1987-1988).

On February 8, 2024, Pope Francis commissioned André Denis, a retired Quebec Superior Court judge, to conduct a preliminary inquiry. A former judge of the Quebec Superior Court, the magistrate had already been commissioned by the Catholic Church in Canada in other cases. He led investigations into allegations of sexual abuse in the archives of nine dioceses over a period ranging from the 1940s to 2021. Of the 6,809 files examined, the audit identified 87 individuals for whom abuse had been confirmed or substantiated. 

The report of the preliminary canonical investigation conducted by Judge Denis was completed on May 6 and communicated to the Pope in the following days, the Vatican informs. This investigation did not "identify any actions that amount to misconduct or abuse on the part of Cardinal Gérald C. Lacroix. Consequently, no further canonical procedure is foreseen," the note reads.

The 66-year-old Archbishop of Quebec, who is a member of the small council of Cardinals (C9) that advises the Pope in the management of the Church, had "temporarily" withdrawn from his office of governing the Canadian diocese, in order to respect the judicial process and "consider the decisions to be made."

Cardinal Lacroix has always denied the accusations. "I categorically deny the allegations made public," he declared in a video broadcast on January 30, 2024. "Never, to my knowledge, have I made any inappropriate actions towards anyone, whether minors or adults," he added, stating that his conscience was "at peace in the face of these accusations, which I refute." 

Despite the investigation, the Canadian cardinal had continued to take part in C9 meetings with Pope Francis at the Vatican, in February and April.

"Being on the C9 does not pose a problem for the investigation in his diocese," a Vatican source told I.MEDIA. 

In 2022, another Canadian cardinal, Marc Ouellet, was implicated in sexual misconduct. Cardinal Lacroix's predecessor as Archbishop of Quebec, who later became Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, was the target of a complaint after being accused of inappropriate behavior by a former employee of the Quebec diocese. 

After looking into the situation, the Pope deemed that there were "not enough elements to open a canonical investigation," and Cardinal Ouellet announced that he would take legal action for defamation before the Quebec courts, for which no date has yet been given.

Cardinal Ouellet, who turns 80 on June 8, retired from his position as Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops in January 2023 on grounds of age, but remains active in the Vatican. In particular, he is still a member of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, where he took part in the recent plenary assembly.

The publication in 2019 of Pope Francis' motu proprio Vos estis lux mundi, updated in 2023, strengthened the responsibility of bishops and religious superiors in handling cases of abuse, a fortiori when they themselves are accused. Article 8 stipulates that any report involving a bishop must be forwarded to the metropolitan archbishop, and directly to the Holy See if it is the archbishop himself who is the target of accusations.