Jean-Baptiste Janssens SJ (22 December 1889 – 5 October 1964) was a Belgian Jesuit priest who was the 27th Superior General of the Society of Jesus.

After the usual two years of philosophy spent at the Jesuit theological college in Leuven he earned his doctorate in civil law at the Catholic University of Louvain.

With the exception of this visitation and his two years studying in Rome, he had spent most of his life in his own province: in Leuven, Drongen (Ghent), Antwerp, and Brussels.

In 1945 he kept in hiding a large group of Jewish children in the Provincial's residence of Brussels, which earned him the title of Righteous among the nations.

[1] Because of his delicate health and the oppressiveness of the Roman air, a sizeable piece of property in the Alban Hills – southeast of Rome – was purchased as a retreat for the general and his curia.

In bold language for those days, the general speaks of completely uprooting the spirit of "caste" among Jesuits and their students.

[citation needed] In 1960, in a letter to those engaged in education, the general had to confront those who doubted whether the colleges were a ministry proper to the Society or who asserted that they were not in conformity with the spirit of St.

In 1960, the first international meeting of experts in the college apostolate was held in Rome for the purpose of formulating common criteria of inspiration and action.