e is considered an accomplished leader and pastorally sensitive with experience guiding a local church in a country with high rates of secularization. Lacroix’s focus on a missionary church is likely to be seen favorably in a papal election and his leadership skills were recognized by Francis who chose him as a member of the Council of Cardinals, the body which advises the pope on crucial matters. Lacroix, however, has faced an allegation of sexual abuse in the 1980s by an unnamed female who was 17 at the time. The cardinal strongly denied the claims – contained in a civil class suit action against Quebec archdiocese – and a retired judge, commissioned by the Vatican to investigate the allegations, later found no evidence of sexual misconduct. The allegation could damage Lacroix’s candidacy, but the judge’s finding might also be viewed as Lacroix having already been vetted.