The retired Quebec judge entrusted by the Pope with investigating an abuse allegation against Cardinal Gérald Lacroix said that the alleged victim declined to cooperate with his investigation.
Cardinal Lacroix, the Primate of Canada and a member of the Pope’s nine-member Council of Cardinals, was accused in a January class-action lawsuit of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl in 1987 and 1988. On May 21, the Vatican announced that the preliminary canonical investigation conducted by the judge found no actions of misconduct or abuse, and that no further canonical action would be taken.
“I am unable to say whether or not the alleged act took place,” said Judge André Denis. “I’m even unable to identify a place, an event, a precise date or any other circumstance. The plaintiff’s refusal to cooperate in any way with my investigation has left me at a loss.”
Denis said that if the alleged victim chose to cooperate, he would ask the Vatican to reopen the investigation.