Leonardo Zamora Legaspi, OP (25 November 1935 – 8 August 2014) was the

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Caceres and president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (1988–1991). He was appointed the first Filipino Rector Magnificus of the University of Santo Tomas in 1970. On 8 September 2012,

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

accepted his retirement as Metropolitan Archbishop of Caceres, and named Bishop Rolando Joven Tria Tirona, OCD, as Archbishop-elect. Archbishop Tirona, who until then had been the Bishop-Prelate of the Roman Catholic Territorial Prelature of Infanta in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, immediately succeeded to the see upon the acceptance of his appointment and was formally installed as Metropolitan Archbishop of Caceres on 14 November 2012., Bicolandia Regional Newspaper, 1 January 2014.

Early life and education

Legaspi was born in Meycauayan, Bulacan on 25 November 1935. After his high School education at St. Mary's Academy in Meycauayan, he went to the

University of Hong Kong The University of Hong Kong (HKU) is a public research university in Pokfulam, Hong Kong. It was founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese by the London Missionary Society and formally established as the University of ...

where he obtained an A.B. degree in

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in 1955. In 1960, he joined the

Dominican Order The Order of Preachers (, abbreviated OP), commonly known as the Dominican Order, is a Catholic Church, Catholic mendicant order of pontifical right that was founded in France by a Castilians, Castilian priest named Saint Dominic, Dominic de Gu ...

, and in the following year he received a

Licentiate of Sacred Theology Licentiate in Sacred Theology (; abbreviated LTh or STL) is the second of three ecclesiastical degrees in theology (the first being the Baccalaureate in Sacred Theology and the third being the Doctorate in Sacred Theology) which are conferred ...

(S.T.L.) from the

University of Santo Tomas The University of Santo Tomas (UST; ), officially the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, The Catholic University of the Philippines or colloquially as ''Ustê'' (), is a Private university, private Catholic school, Catholic researc ...

in 1962, and subsequently a S.T.D. degree the same year. After receiving his B.S. degree in

Educational Management Educational management refers to the administration of the education system in which a group combines human and material resources to supervise, plan, strategise, and implement structures to execute an education system. Education is the equippin ...

at the

Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

in 1971, he again studied at the University of Santo Tomas and earned his Ph.D. degree in 1975.CBCP Online
''CBCP Website'' 14 May 2012

Career

In 1968, he served as the first Filipino Rector Magnificus of the University of Santo Tomas's Central Seminary, and in 1970, he was appointed the first Filipino Rector Magnificus of the University of Santo Tomas. On 30 June 1977, he was designated as Titular Bishop of Elefantaria in Mauritania and Auxiliary Bishop of Manila. Later, he was installed in Solemn Ceremonies as the 33rd Bishop and 3rd

of the Caceres at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint John the Evangelist, Naga City, on 18 January 1984. In 1987, he openly gave sermons that denounced the violence committed by members of the

New People's Army The New People's Army (; abbreviated NPA or BHB) is the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). It acts as the CPP's principal organization, aiming to consolidate political power from what it sees as the present "bourgeo ...

, the armed wing of the

Communist Party of the Philippines The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP; ) is a far-left, Marxist–Leninist–Maoist revolutionary organization and communist party in the Philippines, formed by Jose Maria Sison on 26 December 1968. The CPP has been fighting a gue ...

, and was assigned bodyguards in late December after receiving death threats. He served as the president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) from 1988 to 1991 and President of the Second Plenary Council of the Philippines in 1991.UST 400
''UST 400 Website'' May 14, 2012.

Death

On his 37th episcopal anniversary and Feast of

Saint Dominic Saint Dominic, (; 8 August 1170 – 6 August 1221), also known as Dominic de Guzmán (), was a Castilians, Castilian Catholic priest and the founder of the Dominican Order. He is the patron saint of astronomers and natural scientists, and he a ...

, 8 August 2014, Legaspi died at age 78 on 5:00 a.m. at the

University of Santo Tomas Hospital The University of Santo Tomas Hospital (''simply'' UST Hospital or USTH) is a hospital located at the University of Santo Tomas. The hospital has two divisions, a clinical teaching hospital that offers inexpensive medical care for indigent pa ...

of lung cancer.

Honors and awards

Source: * Ten Outstanding Young Men of the Philippines Award for Education (1974) *Grand Cross, Order of Alfonso X the Wise (1974) *Tanglaw Awards (1974) *Kyung Hee University's Highest (Golden) Award (1974) *Rizal Pro Patria Award (1975) *International Association of University Presidents Award (1976)

Honorary degrees

Source: *Doctor of Education Honoris Causa, National University, Manila *Doctor of Laws Honoris Causa, Angeles University, Pampanga *Doctor of Humanities, University of Northeastern Philippines

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Legaspi, Leonardo 1935 births 2014 deaths 20th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in the Philippines 21st-century Roman Catholic archbishops in the Philippines Alumni of the University of Hong Kong Deaths from lung cancer in the Philippines Dominican bishops Filipino Roman Catholic archbishops Filipino Dominicans Harvard Business School alumni People from Meycauayan Recipients of the Civil Order of Alfonso X, the Wise Rector Magnificus of the University of Santo Tomas Roman Catholic archbishops of Cáceres Presidents of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines University of Santo Tomas alumni Academic staff of the University of Santo Tomas