Maurice Schexnayder

Maurice Schexnayder
Bishop of Lafayette in Louisiana
In office	1956–1972
Orders
Ordination	April 12, 1925
Consecration	February 22, 1951 by Archbishop Amleto Giovanni Cicognani
Personal details
Born	(1895-08-13)August 13, 1895 Wallace St. John the Baptist Parish Louisiana, USA
Died	January 23, 1981(1981-01-23) (aged 85)
Buried	Cathedral of Saint John the Evangelist in Lafayette, Louisiana
Nationality	American
Denomination	Roman Catholicism
Parents	Adam and Jeanne Marie (née Dupleix) Schexnayder
Education	St. Joseph College Seminary
Alma mater	St. Mary Seminary

Maurice Schexnayder (August 13, 1895 – January 23, 1981) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Lafayette in Louisiana from 1956 to 1972.

Biography

Maurice Schexnayder was born in Wallace, Louisiana, to Adam and Jeanne Marie (née Dutreix) Schexnayder. After attending schools in Wallace and New Orleans, he entered St. Joseph College Seminary near Covington in 1916. He then attended St. Mary Seminary in Baltimore, Maryland, before furthering his studies at the Pontifical North American College in Rome. He was ordained to the priesthood in Rome on April 12, 1925. Following his return to Louisiana, he served as a curate at St. John the Evangelist Church in Plaquemine until 1929, when he became chaplain of the Newman Club at Louisiana State University. He also served as state chaplain of the Knights of Columbus (1932–1944) and pastor of St. Francis de Sales Church in Houma (1946–1950). He was named a Domestic Prelate in 1947.

On December 11, 1950, Schexnayder was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Lafayette and Titular Bishop of Tuscamia by Pope Pius XII. He received his episcopal consecration on February 22, 1951 from Archbishop Amleto Giovanni Cicognani, with Bishops Jules Jeanmard and Louis Caillouet serving as co-consecrators. In addition to his episcopal duties, he served as pastor of St. Michael Church in Crowley. Upon the resignation of Bishop Jeanmard, Schexnayder was named the second Bishop of Lafayette on March 13, 1956. During his tenure, he built a new chancery building, expanded Immaculata Minor Seminary, established thirty-one parishes, and ordained eighty-one priests. In 1961, he established St. Eugene Catholic Church in Grand Chenier in Cameron Parish. One of the newer church parishes in the Diocese of Lake Charles, St. Eugene is one of the most isolated of the thirty-six church parishes in the diocese. Schexnayder attended all four sessions of the Second Vatican Council between 1962 and 1965.

Under Schexnayder's leadership, a number of the diocese's priests were accused of sexual abuse, and Schexnayder has been criticized for moving to protest the accused priests rather than parishioners. In a lawsuit, the diocese's insurance company "argued that the diocese knew for years, if not decades, that some of their priests had fondled and even raped children" and that "the molestations took place largely during the reigns of Bishops Maurice Schexnayder" and his successor, Gerard Louis Frey.

After sixteen years as bishop, Schexnayder retired on November 7, 1972. He died over eight years later, aged 85. He is buried at the Cathedral of Saint John the Evangelist.