Canadian cardinal Marc Ouellet, who held one of the most important positions in the Vatican and was previously accused of sexual misconduct, resigned on Monday because of his “advanced age”. This was announced by the Vatican in a press release. Pope Francis accepted the resignation.
Ouellet’s successor, the American Robert Francus Prevost, will take over his functions on April 12.
In August 2022, the 78-year-old cardinal, who is prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, was accused of inappropriately touching a trainee between 2008 and 2010 when he was Archbishop of Quebec. Those facts emerged from court documents from the Supreme Court of the French-speaking province in Canada.
Monseigneur Ouellet has always strongly denied the allegations, but said he was willing to cooperate with an investigation to prove his innocence. According to Pope Francis, there were insufficient elements to open a canonical inquiry into the facts.
In December it became known that the cardinal himself would file a complaint against the woman for libel, because she falsely accused him of sexual assault. The diocese of Quebec said that a second complaint was filed against the cardinal by another woman in 2020, a complaint that was only published two weeks ago in the weekly Golias.
Marc Ouellet was named as one of the favorites at the last conclave in 2013 that elected Jorge Bergoglio as pope.
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