He was made a cardinal in 1911, led the Apostolic Penitentiary from 1915 to 1918, and served as Prefect of the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith from 1918 until his death.

He entered the Minor Seminary of Culemborg in 1867 and joined the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, more commonly known as the Redemptorists, on 15 June 1873.

After becoming a member of the Redemptorist community in Rome in 1895, Rossum was named a consultor to the Congregation of the Holy Office on 25 December 1896.

On 27 November 1911, although Von Rossum was not yet a bishop, Pope Pius X named him Cardinal-Deacon of San Cesareo in Palatio,[1] the first Dutch cardinal.

[2] Van Rossum died on 30 August 1932 in a Maastricht hospital,[2] after falling ill on returning from a visit to Denmark.