Mandeville Catholic Church embroiled in legal battle gets new pastor
>>>This is our neighboring parish to our south and is located just across the lake from New Orleans. OLL is also the largest Catholic parish in Louisiana!
The Rev. Mark Lomax, who currently heads St. Luke the Evangelist Catholic Church in Slidell, will take over as pastor of Our Lady of the Lake parish in Mandeville on July 1, the Archdiocese of New Orleans confirmed. Lomax will succeed the Rev. Michael Schneller who in February decided to step down as pastor amid the controversial drive to build a new place of worship in Old Mandeville.
Lomax was assigned to St. Luke's in 2006 after serving for nine years as pastor of St. Mark's Catholic Church in Chalmette, which was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. The St. Luke's website describes Lomax as an avid hunter and former Army chaplain who served in Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm. He is a New Orleans native who was ordained as a priest in 1980. From 1979 to 1980, before his ordination, Lomax was a deacon at OLL.
Schneller has been pastor of the Mandeville Catholic church parish since last July, taking over for the Rev. John Talamo, who began the push in 2010 to build a new, larger church on the OLL campus. The proposal touched off significant opposition in Old Mandeville, leading to legal action that is now pending before the state's 1st Circuit Court of Appeal.
In requesting a new assignment, Schneller said the church project distracted from his ministry and caused him "emotional turmoil and physical distress." After much thought and reflection, Schneller said he decided that another pastor more skilled at building and fundraising could better serve OLL.
Contacted Tuesday, Lomax said his focus will be to serve the spiritual needs of OLL parishioners.
"I'm not going with any agenda," he said, referring to the church construction issue. "I'm looking forward to seeing some old friends and making some new ones."
The Rev. Mark Lomax
OLL's long legal battle with the city of Mandeville over construction of the new church is now being fought before the 1st Circuit. The appeals court was asked by church attorneys to intervene following a lower court ruling that essentially upheld the Mandeville Zoning Commission's decision to disallow construction of a new church across Lafitte Street from the church's existing chapel.
The 1st Circuit has until May 22 to formally accept the case, according to court records. Once the case is accepted, the appeals court will set deadlines for briefs to be filed by both parties in a legal process that could stretch into 2014, officials said.
The rift between some residents of the lakefront community and the Catholic church has been years long. Controversy erupted shortly after Talamo announced in the spring of 2010 that the parish would build a new church. Supporters said the existing chapel has 456 seats, which is not enough to accommodate church-goers that attend some Masses. OLL uses its multi-purpose Chotin Center, which houses a gymnasium, for some Masses.
OLL seeks to remedy the situation by building a new church on Lafitte Street at a cost originally estimated to be $13 million. The initial plan called for a 16,715 square-foot place of worship with seating for 1,028. Opponents in Old Mandeville objected, saying the mammoth church would create traffic and parking problems and would not fit in with surrounding buildings.
The church's original plan was disallowed by the city's zoning commission, a decision that prompted the legal action now pending before the 1st Circuit.
Meanwhile, in December the church submitted new construction plans to the city
for a church with fewer seats than what was originally outlined in the proposal that is now under appeal. The latest plan keeps the same basic design, architectural style and amount of square footage as the original proposal. But the new plan has more than 100 fewer seats compared to the original plan.
Under the advice of legal counsel, the city opted not accept the new plan because of the pending appeal. OLL suffered another setback in February when the
Mandeville Planning and Zoning Commission denied the church's appeal that sought to have its revised plan accepted by the city.
Schneller has been pastor of the Mandeville Catholic church parish since last July, taking over for the Rev. John Talamo, who began the push in 2010 to build a new, larger church on the OLL campus. The proposal touched off significant opposition in Old Mandeville, leading to legal action that is now pending before the state's 1st Circuit Court of Appeal.
In requesting a new assignment, Schneller said the church project distracted from his ministry and caused him "emotional turmoil and physical distress." After much thought and reflection, Schneller said he decided that another pastor more skilled at building and fundraising could better serve OLL.
Contacted Tuesday, Lomax said his focus will be to serve the spiritual needs of OLL parishioners.
"I'm not going with any agenda," he said, referring to the church construction issue. "I'm looking forward to seeing some old friends and making some new ones."
The Rev. Mark LomaxThe 1st Circuit has until May 22 to formally accept the case, according to court records. Once the case is accepted, the appeals court will set deadlines for briefs to be filed by both parties in a legal process that could stretch into 2014, officials said.
The rift between some residents of the lakefront community and the Catholic church has been years long. Controversy erupted shortly after Talamo announced in the spring of 2010 that the parish would build a new church. Supporters said the existing chapel has 456 seats, which is not enough to accommodate church-goers that attend some Masses. OLL uses its multi-purpose Chotin Center, which houses a gymnasium, for some Masses.
OLL seeks to remedy the situation by building a new church on Lafitte Street at a cost originally estimated to be $13 million. The initial plan called for a 16,715 square-foot place of worship with seating for 1,028. Opponents in Old Mandeville objected, saying the mammoth church would create traffic and parking problems and would not fit in with surrounding buildings.
The church's original plan was disallowed by the city's zoning commission, a decision that prompted the legal action now pending before the 1st Circuit.
Meanwhile, in December the church submitted new construction plans to the city
for a church with fewer seats than what was originally outlined in the proposal that is now under appeal. The latest plan keeps the same basic design, architectural style and amount of square footage as the original proposal. But the new plan has more than 100 fewer seats compared to the original plan.
Under the advice of legal counsel, the city opted not accept the new plan because of the pending appeal. OLL suffered another setback in February when the
Mandeville Planning and Zoning Commission denied the church's appeal that sought to have its revised plan accepted by the city.
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