ROOTHAAN, JOANNES PHILIPPE

ROOTHAAN, JOANNES PHILIPPE. — 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, he devoted several years to teaching and ministry in Russia, Poland, Austria, and Switzerland. He spent the period 1820–23 at Briga and the period 1823–26 at Turin, as rector of the College of the Provinces; on 9 July he was elected superior general.

During his generalate, in the changing and painful circumstances of the time, he knew how to conduct himself with courage, calm, and prudence, directing his particular concern toward the ascetic and scientific fields. He promoted, in fact, the worship and devotion of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and of that of Mary, as refuge and salvation in those turbulent days: Litterae de cultu S. mi Cordis Iesu (Antwerp 1848) and De cultu purissimi Cordis Mariae (there 1848); he prepared a literal Latin version of the Spiritual Exercises from the Spanish original, providing it with excellent annotations (Rome 1835), and later also an important booklet: De ratione meditandi (there 1836). On the scientific side, he saw to the emendation and adaptation of the Ratio studiorum, on the basis of the memoir of Fr. E. Vasco (published for private use: La Ratio studiorum adattata ai tempi presenti, 4 vols., Rome 1851); in accordance with the wishes of Pius IX, he zealously promoted the implementation of Civiltà Cattolica, encouraging the creation of other similar periodicals in Europe. The persecutions and the apparent defeat of the Society amid the disturbances in Europe were amply compensated by the increase in its membership and by the establishment of many new provinces and missions throughout the world. He also left an extensive correspondence, now partly published: Epistolae J. P. R. (5 vols., Rome 1935–40).