Cardinal Leonardo Ulrich Steiner, the Metropolitan Archbishop of Manaus, is a staunchly progressive prelate, a defender of the poor and the environment who supports ordaining women as deacons and normalizing homosexuality in the Church.

Born on November 6, 1950, in Forquilhinha, Santa Catarina, Brazil, of German ancestry, Steiner joined the Order of Friars Minor in 1976 and was ordained priest on January 21, 1978.

He pursued his education in philosophy and theology, obtaining a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and pedagogy from the Salesian Faculty of Lorraine, as well as a licentiate and doctorate in philosophy from the Pontifical Antonianum University in Rome.

Throughout his career, Steiner has held various significant teaching positions within the Church. He served as a seminary formator until 1986 and as a novice master from 1986 to 1995. From 1995 to 2003, he was a professor of philosophy and secretary at the Pontifical University Antonianum in Rome. Upon returning to Brazil in 2003, he worked as an assistant pastor and lecturer in philosophy.

Steiner’s episcopal journey began on February 2, 2005, when Pope John Paul II appointed him as the bishop prelate of São Félix. He later served as an auxiliary bishop of Brasília from 2011 to 2019. From May 2011 to May 2019, he held the position of Secretary General of the Episcopal Conference of Brazil.

On November 27, 2019, Pope Francis appointed him as the Archbishop of Manaus, a role he assumed on January 31, 2020. Manaus is one of two cities located in the Amazon Rainforest.

A significant milestone in Steiner’s career came on August 27, 2022, when Pope Francis elevated him to the rank of cardinal, making him the first cardinal from the Amazon region. He was given the titular church of St. Leonard of Port Maurice in Acilia.

Steiner is well known for his progressive stance on various social and environmental issues. In 2014, while auxiliary bishop of Brasilia, he broke with previous Vatican teaching documents, but echoed the views of Pope Francis, by endorsing civil unions for same-gender couples, stating that such couples “need legal protection in society” in addition to support from the Church.

Cardinal Steiner is a strong believer in climate change theory and is greatly concerned about its possible impact, particularly in relation to the Amazon region and indigenous communities. He directly links deforestation to climate change, pointing out the severe drought that has affected indigenous communities in his diocese of Manaus.

He has criticized the consumerist and mercantile mentality driving deforestation, saying it “has to change.” He advocates learning from indigenous communities’ sustainable practices, noting that they “don’t consume extraordinarily, they consume what they need to live and to live together.”

Steiner is a firm supporter of synodality, stating that before the Synod on Synodality, the Church was on a mission, but “now we are synodal Church on a mission.” He believes the Amazon Synod of 2019 opened up the “experience of synodality” and “the participation of everyone.”

Speaking to reporters during the October 2024 assembly, he said he wished “that some more distant communities [in the Amazon] could celebrate some sacraments, for example baptism, without the presence of a priest.” He continued by saying that “many of our women are true ‘deaconesses’ without this being official” and emphasized that he was in favor of the ordination of women to the diaconate.

Steiner is also a strong advocate of a married clergy, and pointed out that Pope Francis “has not closed the question” of the ordination of married men. He expressed his hope that Francis “has the capacity to move forward” on the issue.