14 Facts About Leonardo Boff

Leonardo Boff is professor emeritus of ethics, philosophy of religion, and ecology at the Rio de Janeiro State University.

Leonardo Boff was born in 1938 in Concordia, Santa Catarina, Brazil.

Leonardo Boff entered the Franciscan Order in 1959 and was ordained a Catholic priest in 1964.

Leonardo Boff spent the following years studying for a doctorate in theology and philosophy at the University of Munich, which he received in 1970.

Leonardo Boff's thesis was published in German in 1972 as Die Kirche als Sakrament im Horizont der Welterfahrung.

Leonardo Boff became one of the best-known supporters of the early liberation theologians.

Leonardo Boff was present in the first reflections that sought to articulate indignation against poverty and marginalisation with a promissory discourse on faith, leading to Latin American liberation theology.

Leonardo Boff continues to be a controversial figure in the Catholic Church, primarily for his sharp criticism of the church's hierarchy, which he sees as "fundamentalist", but for his political positions.

Leonardo Boff is critical of secular power, as well of American foreign policy.

Leonardo Boff opposed the Iraq War and considered George W Bush and Ariel Sharon's leadership to be similar to that of "fundamentalist terrorist states".

Leonardo Boff has voiced his supported for the Campaign for the Establishment of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly, an organisation which advocates for democratic reform in the United Nations, and the creation of a more accountable international political system.

Leonardo Boff was almost silenced again in 1992 by Rome, this time to prevent him from participating in the Eco-92 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, which finally led him to leave the Franciscan religious order and the priestly ministry.

Leonardo Boff joined the international group of Catholic Scholars who in 2012 issued the Jubilee Declaration on reform of authority in the Catholic Church.

For most of his life Leonardo Boff has worked as a professor in the academic fields of theology, ethics and philosophy throughout Brazil and as lecturer in many universities abroad such as University of Lisbon, University of Barcelona, University of Lund, University of Oslo, University of Torino and others.