Leopoldo Brenes

Leopoldo José Brenes Solórzano (; born 7 March 1949) is a Nicaraguan prelate of the Catholic Church who has been Archbishop of Managua since 2005. He was made a cardinal in 2014. He was an auxiliary bishop in Managua from 1988 to 1991 and Bishop of Matagalpa from 1991 to 2005.

Biography Leopoldo Brenes was born in Ticuantepe on 7 March 1949 into a poor family, one of four children born to Lilliam Solórzano Aguirre

Priesthood He was ordained a priest in Managua on 16 August 1974 He was consecrated a bishop on 19 March 1988 and appointed Archbishop of Managua on 1 April 2005, the day before John Paul II's death. He took possession of the see on 21 May. He received the pallium from Pope Benedict XVI on 29 June 2005.

In the Episcopal Conference of Nicaragua he has been president of the Commission for Vocations and Ministries; secretary general of the Episcopal Conference; president of Cáritas Nacional; president of the Commission for Catechesis; and president of the Commission for Social Communications. He has served as a delegate for the Eucharistic Congresses, delegate to the Special Assembly for Latin America of the Synod of Bishops, delegate to the Latin American Episcopal Council (CELAM), president of the CELAM Commission Family-Life-Youth, and president of the Episcopal Secretariat of Central America (SEDAC). He has been vice-president of the Episcopal Conference of Nicaragua and its president, became president in 2006.

Pope Benedict named him to a five-year term as a member of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America on 8 October 2009.

Cardinal On 22 February 2014, Pope Francis made him a cardinal, assigning him the titular church of San Gioacchino ai Prati di Castello. He was the second Nicaraguan and the third Central American to become a cardinal. On 15 January 2014 Pope Francis confirmed his membership in the Pontifical Commission for Latin America and on 22 May 2014 made him a member of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.

He participated as a cardinal elector in the 2025 papal conclave that elected Pope Leo XIV.