Rev. Leonardo J. Gajardo

Father Leonardo J. Gajardo is a priest of the Diocese of Gary, IN. He was ordained in 2006 and has served as a parish priest and seminary formator.

Father Gajardo was born in Santiago, Chile and immigrated with his family to the United States in 1990. He did his undergraduate studies in philosophy at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, MI and completed his seminary formation at Theological College, earning an S.T.B. from The Catholic University of America. After three years of service in a parish in his diocese, Father Gajardo returned to CUA to complete his studies in canon law, receiving a J.C.L. in 2010. For one year, he served as an ecclesiastical judge of the Tribunal of the Diocese of Gary. Starting in 2011, he served three years on the formation faculty and as professor of canon law at St. Mary’s Seminary & University in Baltimore, MD. In 2014, he was assigned to begin post-graduate studies in liturgical theology at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross (Sancta Croce) in Rome. He earned an S.T.L. in 2016 and an S.T.D. in 2019. From 2018 to 2021 he served as a member of the faculty of Theological College, the National Seminary of The Catholic University of America, as well as the seminary’s Director of Liturgy. During that time, he also taught courses in liturgy at CUA.