Canadian Cardinal Ouellet denies accusations of sexual assault

Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet denied on Friday accusations of sexual assault levelled against him by a woman who has said the aggression took place more than a decade ago when he was archbishop of Quebec.

"I firmly deny having made inappropriate gestures on her person, and I consider the interpretation and dissemination of these accusations as sexual assaults to be defamatory," Ouellet said in a statement.

Ouellet, a prominent Vatican official, was named earlier this week in a class action lawsuit against the Quebec Catholic archdiocese that alleged cases of sexual assault by some 88 clergy and staff working there starting in 1940.