Leo Murphy Drona (born October 18, 1941) is the bishop emeritus of San Pablo 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 ...

. He holds the distinction as one of the first Filipino

Salesian The Salesians of Don Bosco (SDB), formally known as the Society of Saint Francis de Sales (), is a religious congregation of men in the Catholic Church, founded in 1859 by the Italian priest John Bosco to help poor and migrant youth during the ...

priests and the first Filipino Salesian to become a bishop.

Biography

Drona was born on October 18, 1941 in Pangil, Laguna. He spent his elementary years at Thomas Earnshaw Elementary School, and spent his high school years at Don Bosco Technical Institute in

Santa Ana, Manila Santa Ana is a district in the Manila, City of Manila, Philippines. It is located on the city's southeast, bordering the cities of Mandaluyong and Makati in the east, the city districts of Paco, Manila, Paco and Pandacan, Manila, Pandacan in the ...

. He spent his seminary training at Salesian Seminary College at

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

, where he earned PhB. He was ordained to the priesthood on December 22, 1967. He obtained his

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 ...

in 1968 from the Universita Pontificia Salesiana in Rome. He was appointed as dean of College of Don Bosco College Seminary in

Calamba, Laguna Calamba, officially the City of Calamba (), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, component city in the Provinces of the Philippines, province of Laguna (province), Laguna, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a popu ...

from 1968 to 1973, then was appointed as rector of the same seminary from 1974 to 1981, and then appointed as vice-provincial superior of SDB Provincial Office in

Parañaque Parañaque, officially the City of Parañaque (, ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Metro Manila, National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of ...

from 1981 to 1987. On July 25, 1987, he was consecrated as bishop. He served as Bishop of San Jose, Philippines, from 1987 to 2004. He succeeded

Francisco San Diego Francisco Capiral San Diego (October 10, 1935 – August 26, 2015) was a Filipino Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Pasig from 2003 to 2010. He previously served as Bishop of San Pablo from 1995 to 2003. Biography Francisco Capiral ...

in 2004, becoming the third

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

of the Diocese of San Pablo and the first native of Laguna to serve that post. On January 25, 2013,

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 the early retirement of Drona from the pastoral duties in the Diocese of San Pablo and appointed Buenaventura Famadico as his successor.

References

Diocese of San Pablo, Philippines

{{DEFAULTSORT:Drona, Leo Roman Catholic bishops of San Pablo Roman Catholic bishops of San Jose (Nueva Ecija) 1941 births Living people People from Laguna (province) 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the Philippines 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in the Philippines Filipino Roman Catholic bishops Salesians of Don Bosco