Judge approves $31.5M settlement in sexual assault case against Quebec archdiocese

MONTREAL — A Quebec Superior Court judge has approved a historic $31.5-million settlement for sexual assault claimants in a class-action lawsuit against the Quebec City archdiocese.

The agreement ends a years-long legal saga for claimants who say they were sexually abused by priests and laypeople in positions of authority at the Catholic organization going back to 1940.

Plaintiffs Gaétan Bégin and Pierre Bolduc, who spearheaded the class action, say they were sexually assaulted by parish priests starting in the 1950s and 1960s when they were aged 14 and 12, respectively.

Scores of alleged victims — both men and women — have said they plan to participate in the case.

The lawsuit marks the first class action to target an entire diocese for sexual assaults allegedly committed by clergy members.

The Quebec City archdiocese covers the provincial capital and surrounding area as well as the Charlevoix and Chaudière-Appalaches regions.

The diocese said Friday it welcomed the news of the settlement’s sign-off by a judge, “recognizing that this new stage of reparation will help members continue their journey toward peace and healing,” church officials stated in a press release.

The parties presented the agreement to Judge Danye Daigle on July 30, when she heard emotional testimony from victims who described how the alleged traumas affected their lives.

Bishop Jean Tailleur, vicar general of the archdiocese, addressed victims in the Quebec City courtroom that day.

“Faced with the suffering you endure, there is little that my words can alleviate or heal. However, something must be said. On behalf of the Catholic Church of Quebec, I wish to offer you our sincerest apologies,” he said.

Victims have three months to submit a claim outlining the alleged abuse and how it shaped their lives, the Dufresne Wee law firm said Saturday.

The amount paid out to recipients will be determined by two retired judges. The Quebec City archdiocese will issue a letter of apology to each victim whose claim is accepted, said lawyer Justin Wee.

The defendants, which also include the Seminary of Quebec, François-de-Laval College and the AMFQ mutual insurance company, have agreed to cover the administrative cost of the claims process.

The judge approved the out-of-court settlement on Wednesday, according to the law firm and the archdiocese.

Plaintiff Gaétan Bégin claimed to have been assaulted multiple times by parish priest Rosaire Giguère in the Eastern Townships village of Saint-Ludger starting in 1954, when he was 14 years old, and continuing until he was 17.

The assaults, which took the form of touching and mutual masturbation, occurred at the rectory and in a car, according to the lawsuit. Bégin later learned that his three brothers also claimed to have been assaulted by Father Giguère.

After Bégin, his father, and a family friend went to the diocese to report the abuse, the priest was placed on leave and subsequently appointed priest of another parish in the Beauce in 1961. He retired in 1972 and died in 1974 at the age of 73.

Bégin’s co-representative, Pierre Bolduc, alleged that Father Jean-Marie Bégin, parish priest of Robertsonville — now part of Thetford Mines — sexually assaulted him for the first time in 1969, when he was 12 years old.

According to the class-action suit, the boy was assaulted approximately 50 times that same year at the rectory, the church, in Father Bégin’s car and at the priest’s cottage. The assaults took the form of touching, mutual masturbation and oral sex, the lawsuit alleges.

Father Bégin hanged himself in his cottage in 1986 at the age of 60. Bolduc said he had taken steps to be heard by the archdiocese in 2010.

In both cases, the plaintiffs accused it of pressuring them not to report the allegations and of covering up the cases.

They also accused the archdiocese of failing to take action against the priests, as required under canon law, despite learning they had allegedly abused children.

The allegations have not been proven in court.

The victims said they have suffered significant repercussions, including anxiety, depression, anger, low self-esteem, sexual dysfunction, a suicide attempt in one case and alcohol and drug abuse in the other.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 15, 2026.

Christopher Reynolds, The Canadian Press