Library in Spain named after UST founder

Filipino officials in Madrid, Spain recently led the inauguration of a library named after Fray Miguel de Benavidez, the founder of the University of Santo Tomas (UST), a 400-year-old Catholic university in the Philippines. In a news release, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said the newly-refurbished Fray Miguel de Benavidez Library was inaugurated on February 26 in Carrion de los Condes, Palencia. Ambassador Carlos Salinas and Carrion de los Condes Mayor Francisco Javier Villafruela Fierro led the inauguration, which marked the 400th anniversary of UST.   "During the short ceremony, Ambassador Salinas read a heartfelt letter of congratulations addressed to Mayor Villafruela from the UST Rector Fr. Rolando V. Dela Rosa, O.P., and donated books on the UST and the Philippines on behalf of Fr. Dela Rosa and the Embassy," the DFA said.   Before the inauguration, the Holy Mass was celebrated at the Iglesia de San Andres and a wreath-laying ceremony  was held at the statue of De Benavidez. De Benavidez is a well-known son of the municipality of Carrion de los Condes in the province of Palencia. De Benavidez was a former Archbishop of Manila and is recognized as the founder of the UST, the oldest university in Asia. Two days before he died on July 24, 1605, he bequeathed all his books and his money amounting to P1,500 to the establishment of a college-seminary that eventually became the UST.   Carrion de los Condes, with a population of approximately 2,400, is located in the province of Palencia in the autonomous community of Castile and Leon.   It is known for its Romanesque and Gothic monuments and is part of the famous pilgrimage route, el "Camino de Santiago" (Way of Saint James). - VVP, GMA News