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Jan Philipp Roothaan (23 November 1785 – 8 May 1853) was a Dutch Jesuit, elected twenty-first
Superior-General of the Society of Jesus
The superior general of the Society of Jesus is the leader of the Society of Jesus, the Catholic religious order also known as the Jesuits. He is generally addressed as Father General. The position sometimes carries the nickname of the Black Po ...
.
Early life and formation
He was born to a once-
Calvinist
Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...
family emigrated from
Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
to Amsterdam, where they became
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
.
When Jan Philipp, the youngest of three brothers, was sixteen he graduated from the
gymnasium of his native town. From there he passed to the ''Athenaeum Illustre'' (high school), and continued his classical studies for four years under Professor David Jacob van Lennep. As an altarboy at
de Krijtberg church of Amsterdam the young Roothaan came in touch with ex-Jesuits priests who sent him to Russia when he expressed the desire to become a Jesuit. In 1804 he left his homeland to join the
Society of Jesus
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
whose survival in Russia had been recently approved by
Pope Pius VII
Pope Pius VII ( it, Pio VII; born Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti; 14 August 1742 – 20 August 1823), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 14 March 1800 to his death in August 1823. Chiaramonti was also a m ...
(1801). On the conclusion of his novitiate in
Dunaburg
Daugavpils (; russian: Двинск; ltg, Daugpiļs ; german: Dünaburg, ; pl, Dyneburg; see other names) is a state city in south-eastern Latvia, located on the banks of the Daugava River, from which the city gets its name. The parts of the ...
,
Latvia
Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...
, he was appointed teacher at the Jesuit gymnasium at Dunaburg from 1806 to 1809. He had already mastered
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent
* Polish chicken
*Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...
; and he also spoke
French, while the classical
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
,
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
, and
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
were also familiar to him. He subsequently studied philosophy and theology at the
Jesuit College in Polotsk
The Jesuit College in Polotsk ( lat, Collegium Polocense) was a college established by the Jesuit Order in Polotsk, then part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and later occupied by the Russian Empire, and now in Belarus. It was established in 1580 a ...
, and in 1812 was ordained priest.
Career
The following four years (1812–16) were spent as professor of rhetoric at Pusza; this was the stormy era of the
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
, the same time period that saw
Pius VII
Pope Pius VII ( it, Pio VII; born Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti; 14 August 1742 – 20 August 1823), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 14 March 1800 to his death in August 1823. Chiaramonti was also a m ...
restore universally the
Society of Jesus
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
(1814). The next four years, 1816 to 1820, Roothaan worked partly as teacher and partly in pastoral duties at
Orsha
Orsha ( be, О́рша, Во́рша, Orša, Vorša; russian: О́рша ; lt, Orša, pl, Orsza) is a city in Belarus in the Vitebsk Region, on the fork of the Dnieper and Arshytsa rivers.
History
Orsha was first mentioned in 1067 as Rsha ...
in White Russia (modern
Belarus
Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...
). However he had hardly made his final religious profession in the Society (1819) that he was sent into exile by the banishment of the Jesuits from Russia (1820). The exile road ended in
Brig, Switzerland
, neighboring_municipalities= Lalden, Mund, Naters, Ried-Brig, Simplon, Termen, Visp, Visperterminen
, twintowns = Langenthal (Switzerland), Domodossola (Italy)
Brig, officially Brig-Glis (french: Brigue-Glis; it, Briga-Glis), is a h ...
. There again he taught rhetoric for three years. Roothaan was subsequently appointed to the rectorship of the newly founded college at
Turin
Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...
and soon after, in 1829, vice-provincial of Italy.
General Congregation XXI (1829)
At the death of
Luigi Fortis
Luigi Fortis (February 26, 1748 – January 27, 1829) was an Italian Jesuit elected the twentieth Superior-General of the Society of Jesus.
Early life and formation
Fortis joined the Jesuits in 1762 after studying at the San Sebastian High Sc ...
, the 21st General Congregation was convoked, which, on the 9 July 1829 (at the 4th ballot), elected Jan Philipp Roothaan as Superior General. The mandate given by the Congregation to Roothaan was to strengthen and stabilize the fledgling 'new' Society: going slow on opening new schools, improving the intellectual and spiritual formation of the Jesuits, reintroducing practices of the past (Annual letters, Congregations of procurators every three years, etc.), keeping the Latin language for official communications, being strict with regard to admission to final profession, etc.
Superior General
*Roothaan is credited with preserving and strengthening the internal spirit of the Society. To this object he devoted nine of his eleven circular letters, starting with the first, soon after entering office. It was a sort of programme ''De amore Societatis et Instituti nostri'' (1830). To achieve this he also worked on the new edition of the ''
Spiritual Exercises
The ''Spiritual Exercises'' ( la, Exercitia spiritualia), composed 1522–1524, are a set of Christian meditations, contemplations, and prayers written by Ignatius of Loyola, a 16th-century Spanish priest, theologian, and founder of the Society ...
'' of
St. Ignatius, providing it with an introduction and explanatory notes.
*In 1832 he published the new
Ratio Studiorum
The ''Ratio atque Institutio Studiorum Societatis Iesu'' (''Method and System of the Studies of the Society of Jesus''), often abbreviated as ''Ratio Studiorum'' (Latin: ''Plan of Studies''), was a document that standardized the globally influen ...
(''Order of Studies'') after a commission met in Rome in 1830-31. But times were not ripe for a pedagogical reform. The text was a reassertion of the benefits of traditional Jesuit education. New trends and liberal ideas were suspect.
*Roothaan increased the breadth of apostolic activities, and in a vibrant letter (''De missionum exterarum desiderio'', 1833) he called for volunteers for the foreign missions. At the end of his term (1853) Jesuits in overseas missions (America, Africa, Asia) were 1014.
*Traditional apostolic works also received his support, such as preaching, the rural missions. When an epidemic of cholera hit Rome in 1837 he sent the Jesuits to organise relief among the sick.
*Intellectual work was restarted: the
Bollandists
The Bollandist Society ( la, Societas Bollandistarum french: Société des Bollandistes) are an association of scholars, philologists, and historians (originally all Jesuits, but now including non-Jesuits) who since the early seventeenth century h ...
and historical research. The ''
La Civiltà Cattolica
''La Civiltà Cattolica'' (Italian for ''Catholic Civilization'') is a periodical published by the Jesuits in Rome, Italy. It has been published continuously since 1850 and is among the oldest of Catholic Italian periodicals. All of the journal' ...
'' was started. And with intellectual work, Jesuits renewed with controversies as well, as with the Italian philosopher
Antonio Rosmini
Blessed Antonio Francesco Davide Ambrogio Rosmini-Serbati (; Rovereto, 25 March 1797Stresa, 1 July 1855) was an Italian Roman Catholic priest and philosopher. He founded the Rosminians, officially the Institute of Charity or , pioneered the ...
.
On the road
Those were troubled times. Jesuits often suffered banishment from a country or another, especially in the
Revolutions of 1848
The Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Springtime of the Peoples or the Springtime of Nations, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe starting in 1848. It remains the most widespread revolutionary wave in Europea ...
. Roothaan was sending them letters of encouragement ''in the face of tribulations''. Roothaan himself had to flee
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
for two years, at the time of the Roman Republic. This gave him the opportunity to visit Jesuit communities and works in France, Belgium, Netherlands, England, Ireland; he was the first Superior General to ever do it. However, on his return, his health was broken, his strength began to fail, and fits of weakness announced his approaching end.
Evaluation
After 21 years at the helm of the Society Roothaan died on the 8 May 1853, in Rome. During these years the number of Jesuits increased from 2137 to 5209 and high schools passed from 55 to 100.
A highly talented man and very able administrator Roothaan displayed also an indefatigable zeal for the restoration and spiritual uplift of the Society. He was also a churchman of his time, that is not really open to the socio-political ideas that were shaping Europe in the middle of the 19th century.
Roothaan's biographer summed up his spirit well: ''Impetuous by nature, he governed all passions by the exercise of Christian self-denial, so that a most measured moderation in all things forms his distinctive characteristic.''
Notes
References
*LIGTHART, C.G., ''The Return of the Jesuits'', London, 1978.
*NORTH, R., ''The General who rebuilt the Jesuits'', Milwaukee, 1944.
*PIRRI, P., ''P.G. Roothaan'', Rome, 1931.
*VAUX, G., ''Le P. J. Roothaan'', Paris, 1935.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roothaan, Jan Philipp
Superiors General of the Society of Jesus
1785 births
1853 deaths
19th-century Dutch Jesuits
Clergy from Amsterdam
Jesuit College in Polotsk alumni