'The perfect clergyman'

The late Bishop Stanley J. Ott was a spiritual leader of people of all faiths and backgrounds through living the Gospel in a joyful, inclusive way, according to clergy.

Bishop Ott was installed as the third bishop of the Diocese of Baton Rouge on March 25, 1983. He died 30 years ago this month, on Nov. 28, 1992.

When Father Frank Uter was appointed rector of St. Joseph Cathedral in Baton Rouge by Bishop Ott in 1984 the bishop also appointed him ecumenical liaison for the diocese. In addition to attending state church conferences and fostering relationships with local churches, Father Uter helped organize an annual Thanksgiving ecumenical service. Each year, the services rotated to churches of different denominations. In 1992 it was held at a B’nai Isreal Temple in Baton Rouge and Father Uter was scheduled to preach.

His homily ready and with a little time to spare, Father Uter went to Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center to see Bishop Ott, who was battling a cancer that would soon take his life.

“I knocked on the door of his room and went in and (Bishop Ott) sat up, and he had this great big grin on his face,” Father Uter recalled. “I told him ‘Bishop, I’m on my way to the temple for the ecumenical service,’ and he looked up and he had this grin on his face and he said, ‘Frank isn’t Thanksgiving wonderful.’ He almost sounded like a kid all excited at Christmas.”

They talked more and then Father Uter went to the service. When it was time for him to preach, Father Uter told the people “I just want you all to know I had a homily written to deliver today. But I stopped by Our Lady of the Lake to visit the bishop on my way here. When I told him that I was on my way here, he just sat up in bed and said, ‘Isn’t Thanksgiving wonderful.’ So I decided this year (Bishop Ott)  was going to give the homily. 

“And so whatever I am going to say is eclipsed by what he has already said. But I share that with you and I close and say let us pray for each other and our families that we might have the same faith, the same spirit as he does.”

After the service the rabbis, ministers and laypeople told Father Uter they were delighted and how fantastic his (the bishop’s) sermon was.

Bishop Ott died the Saturday following the ecumenical service.

“That was 30 years ago and ever since then I can never approach Thanksgiving without thinking about that ecumenical service. You had Methodists, Presbyterians, Baptists, Catholics, Jews and everyone going back to their homes and thinking about Bishop Ott and the wonderful faith and spirit he had,” said Father Uter. “It seems that sometimes that one sentence says it all.”

When it was apparent that Bishop Ott would not recover from his illness Father Uter was asked to talk with Bishop Ott about what he would like to have in the funeral Mass liturgy. Bishop Ott’s episcopal motto was “Lux in Domino,” which means “Light in the Lord.” 

He told Father Uter he wanted his funeral to focus on this motto because by being a light in the Lord one is able to share many gifts, including among different faith religions.

The night before Bishop Ott’s funeral, an ecumenical service was held that was attended by people of various faiths.

Bishop Ott was also the inspiration behind the Downtown Outreach Center, which was then located at the St. Joseph Cathedral Hall. It was staffed by members of the different downtown churches. An annual collection was taken at the ecumenical services to help support it.

“No matter what church you belonged to, if you were in need you were referred to the outreach center,” said Father Uter. “It might have been the homeless who just wanted a cup of coffee, families that needed help. Whatever help there was needed, it was given there.” 

By the time Bishop Ott passed away, everyone was familiar and comfortable with the cathedral, according to Father Uter.

 “They all saw him as a very spiritual leader, whether they were of a different denomination or not,” said Father Uter.

Rabbi Barry L. Weinstein likewise describes Bishop Ott as a spiritual leader. Rabbi Weinstein is rabbi emeritus of the Unified Jewish Congregation of Baton Rouge and is rabbi at Temple Sinai in Lake Charles and Temple Shalom in Lafayette.

In 1983 when Rabbi Weinstein arrived in Baton Rouge after being elected rabbi at Congregation B’nai Israel, Bishop Ott invited him over to his apartment and the two became spiritual brothers. Bishop Ott gave Rabbi Weinstein a copy of the book “Vatican Council II: The Conciliar and Post Conciliar Documents.” The bishop signed it: “To my friend Barry with my fraternal and best wishes. Stanley Joseph Ott.” 

Within the book, Rabbi Weinstein has underlined several passages that refer to the Catholic Church’s link to the Jewish faith. Many times Bishop Ott spoke to the people at Congregation B’nai Israel, and he was loved by the Jewish people.

The rabbi in fact helped Bishop Ott begin the former Bishop’s Run.

“And then he suggested that we form a federation of fellowship of churches and synagogues, and he wanted it to be inclusive,” said Rabbi Weinstein. 

The network of congregations was called the Greater Baton Rouge Federation of Churches and Synagogues, which was later renamed the Interfaith Federation of Greater Baton Rouge. Among the building bridges activities include the Holy Grill in North Baton Rouge, which provides hot lunches for residents in need.

The Jewish tradition includes the Shema (Sh’ma) prayer, which comes from the Book of Deuteronomy, that is the “watchword” of the Jewish faith.

“(Shema) was pre-eminent in Bishop Ott’s mind, that we are all children of the one God and that we are all brothers and sisters. This was central to his way of life and his belief system,” said Rabbi Weinstein, who often visits the bishop’s grave at St. Joseph Cathedral.

“He had a deep respect for the Hebrew text, the Torah and the rabbinical teachings and a great respect for the Jewish tradition,” noted Rabbi Weinstein. “His vision of God he translated into real life. As he believed in a loving, merciful, forgiving God, he was so loving and merciful.

“He was most friendly in his outreach to all of us, regardless of our religion, our ethnicity, the color of our skin. He continues to shine for me as the kind of person I would like to be and in the way I hope to continue serving as a rabbi. He was just the perfect clergyman in my eyes,” said Rabbi Weinstein.