Leandro Maria Alves

Leandro Maria Alves (born 10 May 1974) is the Roman Catholic Bishop of Baucau, East Timor. He was appointed on 26 April 2023. Previously, he served as deputy parish priest, parish administrator and parish priest of Dili Cathedral, and in many other offices in the Catholic Church in East Timor.

Early life and education Alves was born in Ermera, Portuguese Timor (now East Timor). Between 1990 and 1993, he attended St Joseph's College High School in Dili, East Timor, which was then under Indonesian occupation. In 1993–1994, Alves spent a year studying a propaedeutics course, and in 1994–1995 he underwent spiritual preparation at the São Maria pilgrim hostel in Dare.

From 1995 to 1998, Alves studied in the Faculty of Philosophy and Theology at the in Kupang, West Timor, Indonesia. Between 1999 and 2001, he completed a pastoral year at the Minor Seminary in , Dili. From 2001 until 2004, he studied theology at the Évora Higher Institute of Theology in Évora, Portugal, and at the Faculty of Theology of the Catholic University of Portugal . a post that had been vacant since the death of the previous incumbent, Basílio do Nascimento, in October 2021. Alves was consecrated on 21 July 2023.