Cardinal Marc Ouellet, Prefect of the Dicastery (formerly Congregation) for Bishops since 2010, has been accused in a Canadian lawsuit of sexual assault.

Ouellet was previously Archbishop of Québec, and the inappropriate kissing and touching of a female intern that was alleged in the lawsuit took place in 2008 and 2010.

The lawsuit states that the woman came to understand in 2020 that Ouellet’s actions constituted sexual assault, that Pope Francis was informed of the allegation in January 2021, and that a month later the Pope appointed Father Jacques Servais, SJ, to investigate.

Both Ouellet and Servais are longtime scholars of the theology of Hans Urs von Balthasar. In 1991, Ouellet and Servais were among the six co-founders of the Lubac-Balthasar-Speyr Association, which runs Casa Balthasar, a house of formation that Father Servais leads.

“The choice of Servais is not likely to inspire confidence in the Pope’s commitment to the investigation,” the Pillar noted in its analysis of the allegation.