Who Is V.m. Wheeler? St. Francis Xavier Deacon Removed from Ministry Is Well Known in New Orleans

By Kyle Whitfield
Times-Picayune and New Orleans Advocate
August 3, 2020

https://www.nola.com/news/article_43af2934-d5ca-11ea-b512-e3b796715bc5.html

V.M. Wheeler, a deacon who has been removed from ministry by the Archdiocese of New Orleans, is an attorney who worked with various community organizations in metro New Orleans.

The church said Monday it recently received information about alleged abuse by Wheeler 20 years ago. The 63-year-old has been serving at St. Francis Xavier Parish in Old Metairie.

Here are a few notable positions Wheeler has held or currently holds:

-- Partner at Chaffe McCall law firm;

-- Member of the state bar since 1984, when he graduated from Tulane Law School;

-- Adjunct associate professor at the Tulane Law School, according to the school's website;

-- Member of the governor’s Economic Development Commission, the governor’s Committee of One Hundred, the Louisiana Agricultural Finance Authority and the Jefferson Parish Hospital Service District Citizens’ Task Force, according to his Tulane Law School biography.

Wheeler also worked with the Catholic Foundation of the Archdiocese of New Orleans, Chateau de Notre Dame (nursing home and hospice provider), St. Anthony’s Gardens (senior living facility), Christopher Homes, Inc. (senior affordable housing), New Orleans Council for Community and Justice, New Orleans Medical Mission Society, Tulane Fund Advisory Board, Loyola University College of Business Administration's visiting committee and Loyola's Alumni Association board of directors, according to his Chaffe McCall biography.