Stanley Joseph Ott, S.T.D., (June 29, 1927 – November 28, 1992) was an American

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Minister (Christianity), Christian clergy who is an Ordinary (church officer), ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which me ...

of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. He served as Bishop of Baton Rouge from 1983 until his death in 1992. He previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the

Archdiocese of New Orleans The Archdiocese of New Orleans (; ; ) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical division of the Catholic Church spanning Jefferson (except Grand Isle), Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. John the Baptist, St. Tammany, and Washingto ...

from 1976 to1983.

Biography

Early life and education

Stanley Ott was born in

Gretna, Louisiana Gretna is the second-largest city in, and parish seat of, Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, Jefferson Parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana. "Gretna, Louisiana (LA) Detailed Profile" (notes), ''City Data'', 2007, webpage: C-Gretna "Census ...

, the youngest of three children of Manuel Peter Оtt and his wife, Lucille Berthelot. He was a second cousin of

Mel Ott Melvin Thomas Ott (March 2, 1909 – November 21, 1958), nicknamed "Master Melvin", was an American professional baseball right fielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Giants, from through . He batted left-handed ...

, a

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

and member of the

Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by a private foundation. It serves as the central collection and gathering space for the history of baseball in the United S ...

. He received his early education at the

parochial school A parochial school is a private school, private Primary school, primary or secondary school affiliated with a religious organization, and whose curriculum includes general religious education in addition to secular subjects, such as science, mathem ...

of St. Joseph's Church in Gretna, where he also served as an

altar boy An altar server is a lay assistant to a member of the clergy during a Christian liturgy. An altar server attends to supporting tasks at the altar such as fetching and carrying, ringing the altar bell, helping bring up the gifts, and bringing up ...

. He then attended St. Aloysius High School in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

. Following his graduation from St. Aloysius in 1944, he decided to study for the priesthood instead of entering the military service. Ott attended St. Joseph Seminary College in Covington before entering

Notre Dame Seminary Notre Dame Seminary is a Catholic seminary in New Orleans, Louisiana. It operates under the auspices of the Archdiocese of New Orleans. It serves the other six Catholic dioceses of the Ecclesiastical Province of New Orleans, six additional dioc ...

in New Orleans. He continued his studies in Rome at the

Pontifical North American College The Pontifical North American College (NAC) is a Catholic Church, Roman Catholic educational institution in Rome, Italy, that prepares seminarians to become priests in the United States and elsewhere. The NAC also provides a residence for Prie ...

, where he studied at the

Pontifical Gregorian University Pontifical Gregorian University (; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana), is a private university, private pontifical university in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as a part of the Roman College, founded in 1551 by Ignatius of Loyo ...

Priesthood

While in Rome, Ott was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

a priest by Archbishop Martin O'Connor on December 8, 1951. He earned a doctorate in theology from the Gregorian in 1954. Following his return to Louisiana, he was assigned as a

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' () of souls of a parish. In this sense, ''curate'' means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy who are as ...

at St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Parish in New Orleans, where he remained for three years. He served as an assistant

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

at the Catholic Student Center of

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

in Baton Rouge from 1957 to 1961. In 1961, after the creation of the

Diocese of Baton Rouge The Diocese of Baton Rouge (Latin ''Dioecesis Rubribaculensis''; French ''Diocèse de Bâton-Rouge''; Spanish: ''Diócesis de Baton Rouge''), is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese in the Florida Parishes region of the U.S. state of ...

, Ott became

judicial vicar In the Roman Catholic Church, a judicial vicar or episcopal official () is an officer of the diocese who has ordinary power to judge cases in the diocesan ecclesiastical court. Although the diocesan bishop can reserve certain cases to himself, ...

of the new diocese and a curate at St. Joseph Cathedral. He was named

chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

of the diocese in 1966 and rector of the cathedral in 1968. In addition to these duties, he also served as

dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean * Dean Sw ...

of the Central Deanery and a member of the diocesan college of

consultor A consultor is one who gives counsel, i.e., a counselor. In the Catholic Church, it is a specific title for various advisory positions: *in the Roman Curia, a consultor is a specially appointed expert who may be called upon for advice desired by ...

Auxiliary Bishop of New Orleans

On May 24, 1976, Ott was appointed

auxiliary bishop An auxiliary bishop is a bishop assigned to assist the diocesan bishop in meeting the pastoral and administrative needs of the diocese. Auxiliary bishops can also be titular bishops of sees that no longer exist as territorial jurisdictions. ...

of the Archdiocese of New Orleans and

titular bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of ''Nicives'' by

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI (born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding John XXII ...

. He received his

episcopal Episcopal may refer to: *Of or relating to a bishop, an overseer in the Christian church *Episcopate, the see of a bishop – a diocese *Episcopal Church (disambiguation), any church with "Episcopal" in its name ** Episcopal Church (United States ...

consecration Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects ( ...

on the following June 29 from Archbishop

Philip Hannan Philip Matthew Hannan (May 20, 1913 – September 29, 2011) was an American prelate of the Catholic Church, Roman Catholic Church. He served as auxiliary bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, Archdiocese of Washington from ...

serving as

consecrator A consecrator is a bishop who ordains someone to the episcopacy. A co-consecrator is someone who assists the consecrator bishop in the act of ordaining a new bishop. The terms are used in the canon law of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Churches ...

, with Archbishop William Borders and Bishop Joseph Sullivan as co-consecrators. The consecration was held at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis, King of France, in New Orleans. He was then appointed by Hannan as the

vicar general A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop or archbishop of a diocese or an archdiocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vica ...

of the archdiocese.

Bishop of Baton Rouge

Following the death of Sullivan in September 1982, Ott was named the third bishop of the Diocese of Baton Rouge by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

on January 13, 1983. During his nine-year tenure, he encouraged the increased participation of the

laity In religious organizations, the laity () — individually a layperson, layman or laywoman — consists of all Church membership, members who are not part of the clergy, usually including any non-Ordination, ordained members of religious orders, e ...

in diocesan affairs, and promoted the

ecumenical Ecumenism ( ; alternatively spelled oecumenism)also called interdenominationalism, or ecumenicalismis the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships ...

movement by engaging with leaders of other religions. He also oversaw a major reorganization of the Presbyteral Council and other diocesan structures. An outspoken opponent of

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

, Ott urged Catholics to become involved in the

pro-life movement Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in response to the legal ...

and participated in Operation Rescue protests. In 1984, he received heavy criticism for conducting a

Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

for executed murderer

Elmo Patrick Sonnier Elmo Patrick "Pat" Sonnier (February 21, 1950 – April 5, 1984) was a convicted American murderer and rapist in Louisiana who was executed by electrocution at Louisiana State Penitentiary in Louisiana on April 5, 1984. Sonnier was sentenced ...

. Ott served as chairman of the Committee on the Laity of the

National Conference of Catholic Bishops The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is the episcopal conference of the Catholic Church in the United States. Founded in 2001 after the merger of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) and United States Catholic Co ...

and was a delegate to the World

Synod A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word '' synod'' comes from the Ancient Greek () ; the term is analogous with the Latin word . Originally, ...

of Bishops in 1987. He was a member of the Baton Rouge

Sierra Club The Sierra Club is an American environmental organization with chapters in all 50 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The club was founded in 1892, in San Francisco, by preservationist John Muir. A product of the Pro ...

and the Knights of Columbus. He also served as the Grand Prior of the Southeastern USA Lieutenancy of the

Order of the Holy Sepulchre Order of the Holy Sepulchre or Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre may refer to: * Order of the Holy Sepulchre (Catholic), chivalric order belonging to the Holy See (the Roman Catholic Church) * Order of the Holy Sepulchre (Orthodox), chivalric ...

Death

In March 1991, Ott was diagnosed with inoperable

liver cancer Liver cancer, also known as hepatic cancer, primary hepatic cancer, or primary hepatic malignancy, is cancer that starts in the liver. Liver cancer can be primary in which the cancer starts in the liver, or it can be liver metastasis, or secondar ...

, which had spread to his spine by October of that year. He eventually lost the use of his legs, and underwent

radiation In physics, radiation is the emission or transmission of energy in the form of waves or particles through space or a material medium. This includes: * ''electromagnetic radiation'' consisting of photons, such as radio waves, microwaves, infr ...

treatment. Stanley Ott died in Baton Rouge in September 1992 at age 65.

Sources

''The Bishops of Baton Rouge''
diobr.org – Roman Catholic Diocese of Baton Rouge website. Retrieved: 2010-06-03.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ott, Stanley Joseph 1927 births 1992 deaths People from Gretna, Louisiana Saint Joseph Seminary College alumni Notre Dame Seminary alumni Pontifical Gregorian University alumni Roman Catholic Diocese of Baton Rouge 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States Grand Priors of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre Members of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre Deaths from liver cancer in the United States Catholics from Louisiana