The Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, The Catholic University of the Philippines, or simply the University of Santo Tomas (UST), is a private, Roman Catholic research university in Manila, Philippines. Founded on 28 April 1611 by Miguel de Benavides, Archbishop of Manila, it has the oldest extant university charter in the Philippines and in Asia,and is one of the world’s largest Catholic universities in terms of enrollment found on one campus. The university is run by the Order of Preachers. UST is the only university to have been visited by three popes four times: once by Pope Paul VI on 28 November 1970, twice by Pope John Paul II on 18 February 1981 and 13 January 1995, and once by Pope Francis on 18 January 2015. The patron of the university is St. Thomas Aquinas, while St. Catherine of Alexandria is the patroness.