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Memory eternal Metropolitan Schott

From the Pittsburgh Tribune: Byzantine archbishop preached unity

A Bishop who saw through divisions to underlying unity. Eternal rest grant unto him O Lord.

Many of the people who knew Metropolitan Basil Schott say the trappings that come with heading the Byzantine Catholic Archeparchy of Pittsburgh never diminished his desire to live the simple life of spirituality that drew him to ministry as a young man.

“He was a very humble, unpretentious man who overflowed with warmth and caring for people,” said the Rev. Donald Green, executive director of Christian Associates of Southwestern Pennsylvania. “Even when there were disagreements between us about how various churches viewed things, he always was quick to remind us that we are all brothers and sisters.”

Metropolitan Archbishop Basil Myron Schott died Thursday, June 10, 2010. He was 70. The archbishop was diagnosed with cancer last year, according to the Rev. Dennis Bogda, rector of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Munhall.

The archeparchy, which is the eastern church’s equivalent of a Roman Catholic archdiocese, is made up of about 58,500 members in 79 parishes across Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Tennessee, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas.

Archbishop Schott was born in Freeland in Luzerne County, where he attended St. Mary Byzantine Catholic School. He graduated from St. Gabriel High School in Hazleton. He entered the Byzantine Franciscans Order in 1958 and made a profession of his religious vows a year later. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1965.

The archbishop earned bachelor’s degrees in philosophy and theology from Immaculate Conception College in Troy, N.Y., and master’s degrees in theology and pastoral counseling from St. Mary Seminary in Norwalk, Conn.

The Rev. Schott was ordained a bishop in July 1996 and appointed head of the Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Parma (Ohio). In May 2002 he was appointed Metropolitan Archbishop of Pittsburgh by Pope John Paul II.

Pittsburgh Bishop David Zubik described the archbishop as a “great and well-loved leader and a good friend not only to me personally, but to the entire Catholic community.”

“All that have been blessed to know him recognized the deep compassion of a Christ-like leader,” Zubik said. “He was always there as a gentle, supportive voice to all that make up our beautiful mosaic of faith — Christian, Jewish and Muslim — and to all of Pittsburgh,” Zubik said.

Green said the archbishop had a unique ability to promote ecumenism.

“He came out of a tradition that lived through all sorts of conflicts in Europe, including persecution during the communist era,” said Green, who visited and prayed with the archbishop on Monday at UPMC Passavant in McCandless. “Because his Christian tradition bridged both east and west, he was especially sensitive to the call for unity…”