MONTREAL (CANADA)
Yahoo! Canada [Toronto, Canada]
March 6, 2026
By Paul Cherry, Montreal Gazette
A woman who knew retired Cardinal Marc Ouellet during the early 1990s alleged on Friday that he rubbed her “derrière” while she was standing on a stairway and looking at books to prepare for a mass at a Montreal seminary.
Marie-Louise Moreau, 84, was called as a witness by Alain Arsenault, the lawyer representing Paméla Groleau, the woman Ouellet is suing for $100,000 for alleged defamation. On Thursday, Groleau testified at the trial at the Montreal courthouse and alleged she was sexually assaulted by Ouellet in February 2010, following the ordination of a priest in Quebec City.
Groleau, who was working as a pastoral agent at the time, alleged Ouellet ran his hand down her back, stopped at the top of her buttocks and pressed harder when he reached that spot.
On Friday, Moreau said Ouellet groped her buttocks in 1992 when he was a rector at the Grand Séminaire de Montréal. She agreed that a publication ban that had been placed on her identity at the start of the trial be lifted.
“By memory, the rector was Mr. Marc Ouellet. I was in charge of preparing the mass,” Moreau said, adding her work included selecting books for masses. “I remember it well because it was when I turned 50. I was standing on a stairway so I could reach the books, which were up high.
“I was doing that and suddenly, one day, Mr. Ouellet placed himself behind me. He placed both of his hands on either side of me and he rubbed his hands on my derrière. I was extremely stunned. Shocked.
“I freed myself and I left to Sherbrooke St., where I was safe.
[PHOTO: Cardinal Marc Ouellet and a lawyer in his case are seen during a break at the Montreal courthouse on Wednesday, March 4, 2026. (Credit: John Mahoney)]
“I have been carrying this for 34 years.”
Before Moreau testified, Ouellet’s lawyer, Dominique Ménard, objected to her being called as a witness in the defamation case. Quebec Superior Court Justice Marc Castonguay said he will rule on Ménard’s objection at a later date.
While being cross-examined by Ménard, Moreau said she felt “like a prisoner” when Ouellet allegedly groped her. She repeated that she was reaching for books when the alleged incident happened.
“I was like a prisoner. I had to get away,” the woman repeated. “Between that and getting outside to Sherbrooke St. where I was safe, I don’t know what happened.”