Francis August Anthony Joseph Janssens (October 17, 1843 – June 9, 1897) was a Dutch-born

American Catholic The Catholic Church in the United States is part of the worldwide Catholic Church in communion with the pope, who as of 2025 is Chicago, Illinois-born Leo XIV. With 23 percent of the United States' population , the Catholic Church is the cou ...

prelate who served as Archbishop of New Orleans from 1888 to 1897. He previously served as Bishop of Natchez from 1881 to 1888.

Biography

Early life

Francis Janssens was born on October 17, 1843, in

Tilburg Tilburg () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands, in the southern Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant. With a population of 22 ...

North Brabant North Brabant ( ; ), also unofficially called Brabant, Dutch Brabant or Hollandic Brabant, is a province in the south of the Netherlands. It borders the provinces of South Holland and Gelderland to the north, Limburg to the east, Zeeland to ...

in the Netherlands to Cornelius John and Josephine Anne (née Dams) Janssens. He entered the

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

's-Hertogenbosch s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 160,783. It is the capital of ...

in 1856. In 1866, Janssens went to the American College at Louvain, Belgium, planning to ultimately do mission work in the United States. Janssens was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

to the priesthood for the Diocese of Richmond on December 21, 1867. Arriving at

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

, in September 1868, he was appointed rector of the

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

in 1870 and served as

vicar general A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop or archbishop of a diocese or an archdiocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vica ...

under Bishops

James Gibbons James Cardinal Gibbons (July 23, 1834 – March 24, 1921) was an American Catholic prelate who served as Apostolic Vicar of North Carolina from 1868 to 1872, Bishop of Richmond from 1872 to 1877, and as Archbishop of Baltimore from 1877 unti ...

and John Joseph Keane.

Bishop of Natchez

On April 7, 1881, Janssens was appointed the fourth bishop of the Diocese of Natchez, by

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII (; born Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2March 181020July 1903) was head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 until his death in July 1903. He had the fourth-longest reign of any pope, behind those of Peter the Ap ...

. He received his

episcopal consecration A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of dioceses. The role ...

on May 1, 1881, from Archbishop James Gibbons, with Bishops Thomas Becker and John Keane serving as

co-consecrators A consecrator is a bishop who ordains someone to the episcopacy. A co-consecrator is someone who assists the consecrator bishop in the act of ordaining a new bishop. The terms are used in the canon law of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Churche ...

. During his tenure, Janssens completed construction on the Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle in

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, which had commenced forty years earlier.

Archbishop of New Orleans

Janssens was appointed by Leo XIII as the fourth archbishop of the Archdiocese of New Orleans on August 7, 1888; he was installed on September 16, 1888. During his tenure, Janssens convened the fifth Archdiocesan

Synod A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word '' synod'' comes from the Ancient Greek () ; the term is analogous with the Latin word . Originally, ...

in May 1889, founded more than twenty-five new

parochial school A parochial school is a private school, private Primary school, primary or secondary school affiliated with a religious organization, and whose curriculum includes general religious education in addition to secular subjects, such as science, mathem ...

s, dedicated a new preparatory seminary at Gessen, Louisiana, in September 1891, and established the Catholic Institute for Deaf and Dumb at Chinchuba, Louisiana, in 1890. Janssens significantly reduced the immense debt incurred by Archbishop Napoléon-Joseph Perché; continuing the work of his immediate predecessor Archbishop Francis Xavier Leray, he reduced it from $324,759 to about $130,000. Janssens' tenure also spanned the period of hardening racial divisions between whites and African-Americans. He once said, "There is nothing in my administration of the Diocese that worries me more than our colored people; to see what is done by the

Protestants Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

to capture them and how often they succeed." Believing that a separate

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

would keep blacks within the Catholic Church and facilitate black leadership just as it had for Irish and

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immigrants Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...

, Janssens established St. Katharine's Church in 1895 as the first parish designated for black Catholics; attendance, however, was optional. It was, however, his expressed hope "that anyone might occupy any pew or any seat anywhere in the church." Janssens died aboard the steamer ''Creole'', bound for

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, aged 53. He is buried at St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans.

References

External links

St. Mary Basilica Archives, Natchez, Mississippi
{{DEFAULTSORT:Janssens, Francis August 1843 births 1897 deaths 19th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in the United States Catholic University of Leuven (1834–1968) alumni American College of the Immaculate Conception alumni Roman Catholic archbishops of New Orleans Catholic Church in Louisiana Catholic Church in Mississippi Dutch emigrants to the United States Dutch Roman Catholic missionaries People from Tilburg Roman Catholic bishops of Jackson Roman Catholic Diocese of Richmond Roman Catholic bishops in Mississippi Religious leaders from Virginia