Leopoldo Brenes

On 22 February 2014, Pope Francis made him a cardinal, assigning him the titular church of San Gioacchino ai Prati di Castello. 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.

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

Pope John Paul II named him titular bishop of Maturba and appointed him auxiliary bishop of Managua on 13 February 1988. He was consecrated a bishop on 19 March 1988 in the cathedral of Managua by Cardinal Miguel Obando Bravo, Archbishop of Managua, assisted by Paolo Giglio, apostolic nuncio to Nicaragua, and Arturo Rivera Damas, Archbishop of San Salvador. His episcopal motto is Tu me has enviado. He was made Bishop of Matagalpa on 2 November 1991 and made Archbishop of Managua on 1 April 2005. He took possession of the see on 21 May. He received the pallium from Pope Benedict XVI on 29 June 2005.

He was ordained a priest in Managua on 16 August 1974 by Miguel Obando Bravo. He then served in a number of roles, including priest in the parishes of Tisma, Las Brisas, la Asunción, and St. Pius X in Managua, and vicar for pastoral care and substitute vicar general of the Archdiocese of Managua. He was later a parish priest of Sagrada Familia, María Inmaculada, San Pío X, Espíritu Santo and Santa Rosa and San Agustín in Managua, and vicar for pastoral care of the Archdiocese of Managua and episcopal vicar for vocations and ministries.

Leopoldo José Brenes Solórzano (Spanish pronunciation: [le.oˈpol.do xoˈse ˈβɾenes soˈloɾsano]; born 7 March 1949, in Ticuantepe) 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 of Managua from 1988 to 1991 and bishop of Matagalpa from 1991 to 2005.

Leopoldo Brenes was born in Ticuantepe on 7 March 1949. He studied first at Rural School of Ticuantepe, Cristóbal Rugada School of Masaya, and Escuela Normal of Managua and then continued his secondary studies at the National Institute of Masaya and at Colegio San José de Calasanz. He then studied philosophy at the National Seminary Nuestra Señora de Fátima of Managua; theology at the Superior Institute of Ecclesiastical Studies (ISEE), México. He earned a bachelor's degree in theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and a licentiate in dogmatic theology at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome. He was ordained a deacon on 13 January 1974.