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Title: The Holistic Personalism of Professor Magister Louis Janssens
Author(s): BURGGRAEVE, Roger
Journal: Louvain Studies
Volume: 27    Issue: 1   Date: spring 2002   
Pages: 29-38
DOI: 10.2143/LS.27.1.926

Abstract :
The Wednesday before Christmas, December 19, 2001, the well-known Belgian moral theologian, Louis Janssens, passed away.Though he was not only a doctor but also a magister in theology, he preferred to call himself ‘a peasant from Olen'. He was indeed born in Olen (Province of Antwerp) on July 23, 1908 to a family of farmers, and he remained proud of that throughout his life. For him, the ‘healthy common sense' of simple folk was just as important as academic learning or authority. Throughout his life, he was characterized by the simplicity and straightforwardness of his ancestors. Both in his classes and conferences, as well as in his publications, he succeeded in making the most difficult of problems comprehensible, without detracting from their complexity or making any concessions to research and critical reflection. This was the case from 1942, when he was appointed professor in Leuven, until his retirement in 1978.

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