Elected Superior General
When Father General Ledochowski died in 1942, World War II was in full fury in Europe and Father Janssens was the Jesuit Provincial trying to keep his province intact. The Vicar General, Norbert de Boynes, was unable to call a General Congregation because of the war. Thus, in effect, de Boynes was in charge of the governance of the Society for three years.
The war ended in August 1945 and de Boynes was finally able to convene a General Congregation — the 29th — between 6 September and 23 October 1946. Janssens, as Provincial of his province, went to Rome as a delegate. The Congregation was held under Spartan conditions and many of the necessaries were provided by the delegates from countries less affected by the war than the countries of Europe. On September 15, the 57-year-old Belgian Jean-Baptiste Janssens was elected Father General of the Society Of Jesus.
Read more about this topic: Jean-Baptiste Janssens
Famous quotes containing the words elected, superior and/or general:
“Whether elected or appointed
He considers himself the Lord’s annointed,
And indeed the ointment lingers on him
So thick you can’t get your fingers on him.”
—Ogden Nash (1902–1971)
“He said, truly, that the reason why such greatly superior numbers quailed before him was, as one of his prisoners confessed, because they lacked a cause,—a kind of armor which he and his party never lacked. When the time came, few men were found willing to lay down their lives in defense of what they knew to be wrong; they did not like that this should be their last act in this world.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“However energetically society in general may strive to make all the citizens equal and alike, the personal pride of each individual will always make him try to escape from the common level, and he will form some inequality somewhere to his own profit.”
—Alexis de Tocqueville (1805–1859)