Francis August Anthony Joseph Janssens was a Dutch-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church.
Background
Janssens was born on October 17, 1843, in Tilburg, Netherlands, the son of Cornelius and Josephine Anne (Dawes) Janssens, was born in Tilburg, North Brabant. The youngest son of a wealthy and prominent Catholic family, he early resolved to devote his life to the service of God. In this desire he was encouraged by his parents.
Education
At the age of thirteen Janssens entered the preparatory seminary at Bois-le-Duc and was ordained sub-deacon in 1866. Since his wish was to become a missionary in America he was sent to the American college attached to Louvain University, where he was ordained as a priest December 21, 1867.
Career
In September 1868 Janssens landed at Richmond, Virginia, where he served successively as pastor of the cathedral, vicar general, and administrator of the diocese. He was consecrated bishop of Natchez in 1881. His administrative ability was at once manifest. New parishes were established, schools and convents opened, and the general interest of Catholics in religious matters awakened. Through his efforts the Choctaw Indians living in the northern part of Mississippi were Christianized. An extensive farm was bought in 1884 and divided into tracts distributed among Indian families; a church and a school were built. On the death of Monseigneur Leray of New Orleans, Janssens was appointed his successor (1888). The diocese was in a very unsettled condition owing to the large debt, and to the need of additional priests, churches, and schools. One of his first acts as archbishop was to call a meeting of the clergy and the laity to consider plans for the gradual liquidation of the debt. In order to provide priests, a little seminary was opened at Pontchatoula. The lynching of a group of Italians who had assassinated the city chief of police, impressed Janssens with the especial need of missionary work in the Italian section, and in 1892 he brought to New Orleans the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart, who opened a mission, a free school, and an asylum for Italian orphans. Through the generous assistance of Thomy Lafon, a colored philanthropist, the Archbishop was enabled to provide for the needs of the aged colored. He also did much to further the work of the colored sisters of the Holy Family, whose convent and boarding school was in the ancient quadroon-ball room of ante-bellum days. In addition to the establishment of new parishes, schools, and convents, the Louisiana Lepers' Home was established and the Catholic Winter School of America was organized. Janssens was an indefatigable worker. After a cyclone which devastated the coast in 1892, he personally visited the island settlements to aid and comfort the stricken people. His arduous duties told upon his health, and in June 1897 he planned to go to Europe to take a much-needed rest and to arrange for the final liquidation of the debt. He died on board the steamer Creole on the way to New York, June 10, 1897. His body was brought to New Orleans and buried in the St. Louis Cathedral on June 15.
Personality
Quotes from others about the person
"His universal kindliness of disposition, unostentatious manners and unfailing courtesy to all men, irrespective of creed, race or condition in life, " said the Daily Picayune.