Antonio Javellana Ledesma, (born March 28, 1943) is a

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

Roman Catholic 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 lette ...

clergyman who served as 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 Metropolitan Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro 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 ...

from 2006 to 2020.

Early life

Born on March 28, 1943, in

Iloilo City Iloilo City, officially the City of Iloilo ( hil, Siyudad/Dakbanwa sang Iloilo; fil, Lungsod ng Iloilo), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the Western Visayas region of the Philippines on the island of Panay. It is the capital city of t ...

. He spent his elementary years at St. Aloysius School and later at the

Ateneo de Manila , mottoeng = Light in the Lord , type = Private, research, non-profit, coeducational basic and higher education institution , established = December 10, 1859 , religious_affiliation = Roman Catholic (Jesuits) , academic_affi ...

. Since then, he remained with the Ateneo until he finished his degree in

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

and

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

, graduating ''

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some So ...

'' in 1963. He studied

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

and

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

at the Loyola House of Studies from 1966 to 1968 and from 1970 to 1973, respectively. He attained his

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

from the

University of the Philippines The University of the Philippines (UP; fil, Pamantasan ng Pilipinas Unibersidad ng Pilipinas) is a state university system in the Philippines. It is the country's national university, as mandated by Republic Act No. 9500 (UP Charter of 200 ...

. He attended the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, completing his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

development Development or developing may refer to: Arts *Development hell, when a project is stuck in development *Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting *Development (music), the process thematic material is reshaped *Photographi ...

in 1980.

Ministry

Priesthood

On May 30, 1963, Ledesma entered the

Society of Jesus , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

. He was ordained priest on April 16, 1973. He served as an assistant parish priest in

Siay, Zamboanga Sibugay Siay, officially the Municipality of Siay ( ceb, Lungsod sa Siay; Chavacano: ''Municipalidad de Siay''; tl, Bayan ng Siay), is a 2nd class municipality in the province of Zamboanga Sibugay, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a popu ...

, from 1980 to 1981. From 1982 to 1996, he worked as a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

and was assigned to various positions in

Xavier University Xavier University ( ) is a private Jesuit university in Cincinnati and Evanston (Cincinnati), Ohio. It is the sixth-oldest Catholic and fourth-oldest Jesuit university in the United States. Xavier has an undergraduate enrollment of 4,860 studen ...

. He taught

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

, and religious studies. During the same period, he sat as

chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

of different societies and

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

Episcopate

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

appointed Ledesma as Coadjutor Prelate of Ipil on June 13, 1996. He succeeded

Federico O. Escaler Federico O. Escaler, S.J. (June 28, 1922 – November 28, 2015) was a Filipino Prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. Escaler was born in Manila and was ordained a priest on June 19, 1954, from the religious order of the Society of Jesus , ...

as the

Prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pref ...

of Ipil on June 28, 1997. On March 4, 2006, he was appointed by

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 ...

Cagayan de Oro Cagayan ( ), officially the Province of Cagayan ( ilo, Probinsia ti Cagayan; ibg, Provinsiya na Cagayan; itv, Provinsiya ya Cagayan; fil, Lalawigan ng Cagayan), is a province in the Philippines located in the Cagayan Valley region, covering ...

. During his term, he has led the

Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines The Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines; ceb, Hugpong sa mga Obispo nga Katoliko sa Pilipinas; bcl, Komperensya kan mga Obispo Katoliko kan Pilipinas; hil, Komperensya sang mga Obispo Katoliko sang Pilipinas; ilo, Kumperensya ti ...

as Chairman of the Episcopal Commission on Inter-religious Dialogue since 2009. He has convened local religious leaders in inter-religious dialogues on different social issues. In the aftermath of

Typhoon Sendong Severe Tropical Storm Washi, known in the Philippines as Tropical Storm Sendong, was a late-season tropical cyclone that caused around 1,200 to 1,500 deaths and catastrophic damage in the Philippines in late 2011. Washi made landfall over Minda ...

and in the absence of local government leadership, he led the multi-sectoral relief effort to address the needs of calamity victims. During the

2016 Philippine Presidential Elections The 2016 Philippine presidential and vice presidential elections were held on Monday, May 9, 2016, as part of the 2016 general election. This was the 16th direct presidential election in the Philippines since 1935 and the fifth sextennial pre ...

, he wrote a pastoral letter calling out presidential candidate

Rodrigo Duterte Rodrigo Roa Duterte (, ; born March 28, 1945), also known as Digong, Rody, and by the initials DU30 and PRRD, is a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the 16th president of the Philippines from 2016 to 2022. He is the chairperson ...

for his inaction on the rising number of extrajudicial killings in

Davao City Davao City, officially the City of Davao ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Dabaw; ), is a first class highly urbanized city in the Davao Region, Philippines. The city has a total land area of , making it the largest city in the Philippines in terms of lan ...

where the latter was mayor. One month into the presidency of eventual winner Duterte, Ledesma made a call to stop extrajudicial killings. He said: Ledesma has also supported efforts to resolve

Mindanao Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of ...

's protracted struggle with

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

separatists Separatism is the advocacy of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, governmental or gender separation from the larger group. As with secession, separatism conventionally refers to full political separation. Groups simply seeking greate ...

. He has spoken and advocated for the

Bangsamoro Basic Law The Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL; fil, Batayang Batas para sa Rehiyong Awtonomo ng Bangsamoro), also known as the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), and officially designated as Republic Act No. 11054, is a Philippine law that provided for the establis ...

. On June 23, 2020,

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

accepted his retirement as Archbishop of Cagayan de Oro and was succeeded by then-Malaybalay Bishop

Jose Cabantan José Araneta Cabantan (born June 19, 1957) is a Filipino prelate of the Catholic Church, serving as the Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro, Metropolitan Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro in the Philippines. Early lif ...

References

External links