Leonardo Zamora Legaspi, O.P. (25 November 1935 – 8 August 2014) was the Archbishop of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Caceres Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

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 The of the University of Santo Tomas (pl. ) is the highest-ranking officer and chief administrator of the University of Santo Tomas (UST), the oldest and the largest Catholic university in Manila, Philippines. The rector typically sits as chief ...

in 1970. On 8 September 2012,

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...

accepted his retirement as Metropolitan Archbishop of Caceres, and named Bishop Rolando Joven Tria Tirona, O.C.D., as Archbishop-elect. Archbishop Tirona, who until then had been the Bishop-Prelate of the

Roman Catholic Territorial Prelature of Infanta The Territorial Prelature of Infanta ( la, Praelatura Territorialis Infantensis) is a Roman Catholic territorial prelature located in the municipality of Infanta, Quezon, in the Ecclesiastical province of Lipa in the Philippines. Prelates Ref ...

in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, immediately succeeded to the see upon the acceptance of his appointment and was formally installed as Metropolitan Archbishop of Caceres on 14 November 2012.Tirona takes possession of Caceres
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) (Chinese: 香港大學) is a public university, public research university in Hong Kong. Founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, it is the oldest Higher education in Hong Kong, tertia ...

where he obtained an

A.B. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four ye ...

degree in Philosophy in 1955. In 1960, he joined the

Dominican Order The Order of Preachers ( la, Ordo Praedicatorum) abbreviated OP, also known as the Dominicans, is a Catholic mendicant order of Pontifical Right for men founded in Toulouse, France, by the Spanish priest, saint and mystic Dominic of C ...

, and in the following year he received a

Licentiate of Sacred Theology Licentiate in Sacred Theology ( la, Sacrae Theologiae Licentiatus; abbreviated 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 Theolo ...

(S.T.L.) from the

University of Santo Tomas The University of Santo Tomas (also known as UST and officially as the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, Manila) is a private, Catholic research university in Manila, Philippines. Founded on April 28, 1611, by Spanish friar Mig ...

in 1962, and subsequently a

S.T.D. The Doctor of Sacred Theology ( la, Sacrae Theologiae Doctor, abbreviated STD), also sometimes known as Professor of Sacred Theology (, abbreviated STP), is the final theological degree in the pontifical university system of the Roman Catholic ...

degree the same year. After receiving his

B.S. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

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 business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...

in 1971, he again studied at the University of Santo Tomas and earned his

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

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

. 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 Archbishop of the Caceres at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint John the Evangelist, Naga City, on 18 January 1984. 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'' 14 May 2012.

Death

On his 37th episcopal anniversary and Feast of

Saint Dominic Saint Dominic ( es, Santo Domingo; 8 August 1170 – 6 August 1221), also known as Dominic de Guzmán (), was a Castilian Catholic priest, mystic, the founder of the Dominican Order and is the patron saint of astronomers and natural scient ...

, 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 patient ...

of lung cancer.

Honors and awards

* Ten Outstanding Young Men of the Philippines Award for Education (1974) * Grand Cross,

Order of Alfonso X the Wise The Civil Order of Alfonso X the Wise ( es, Orden Civil de Alfonso X el Sabio) is a Spanish civil order established in 1939, recognising activities in the fields of education, science, culture, higher education and research. The order was create ...

(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

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

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Legaspi, Leonardo 1935 births 2014 deaths People from Meycauayan 20th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in the Philippines 21st-century Roman Catholic archbishops in the Philippines Filipino Dominicans Dominican bishops Deaths from lung cancer in the Philippines Alumni of the University of Hong Kong Harvard Business School alumni University of Santo Tomas alumni University of Santo Tomas faculty 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 Filipino archbishops