ROOTHAAN, JOANNES PHILIPPUS. - Twenty-first Superior General of the Society of Jesus, born in Amsterdam on 23 November 1785, died in Rome on 8 May 1853.
Having entered the Order in Russia, where the Jesuits had been able to continue to exist as such, in 1808, for several years he devoted himself to teaching and ministry in Russia, Poland, Austria, and Switzerland. He spent the period 1820–23 in Brig, 1823–26 in Turin as rector of the Collegio delle Province; on 9 July he was elected General.
In the changing and painful circumstances of the time of his generalship, he knew how to act with courage, calm, and prudence, directing his particular foresight toward the ascetical and scientific fields. He promoted, in fact, the cult and devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and that of Mary as a refuge and salvation in those stormy days: *Litterae de cultu S. M. Cordis Iesu* (Antwerp 1848) and *De cultu purissimi Cordis Mariae* (ibid. 1848); he prepared a literal Latin version of the Spiritual Exercises from their Spanish original, correcting the doctrine and notes (Rome 1835) and later also an important pamphlet: *De ratione meditandi* (ibid. 1836). On the scientific side, he oversaw the correction and adaptation of the *Ratio studiorum*, based on the memorial of Fr. E. Vasco (privately published: *La Ratio studiorum adattata ai tempi presenti*, 4 vols., Rome 1851); he zealously carried out the wishes of Pius IX regarding the establishment of *La Civiltà Cattolica*, also encouraging the creation of similar periodicals in Europe. The persecutions and the apparent defeat of the Society in the upheavals of Europe were amply compensated by the increase in subjects, the establishment of many new provinces and missions throughout the world. He also left an extensive correspondence, now partly published: *Epistolae S. P. R.* (5 vols., Rome 1935–40).