André-Joseph Léonard (French pronunciation: [ɑ̃dʁe ʒozɛf leɔnaʁ]; born 6 May 1940) is a Belgian Catholic retired prelate who served as the Archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels and Primate of Belgium from 2010 to 2015.

In 1974 Léonard obtained a doctorate in philosophy from the Catholic University of Louvain, with a thesis entitled "A literal commentary on the logic of Hegel".

Léonard was appointed Bishop of Namur by Pope John Paul II on 7 February 1991, for which he was consecrated on 14 April of that year by Cardinal Godfried Danneels.

Italian Vatican writer Andrea Tornielli reports that Léonard is considered "the most traditional of the Belgian bishops".

[4] On 18 January 2010, Léonard was appointed Archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels by Pope Benedict XVI,[5] replacing the retiring Cardinal Danneels.

The offices of an independent commission set up by the newly installed Léonard in early 2010 to look into cases of sexual abuse were also raided.

[11] Pope Benedict XVI in a letter addressed to Archbishop Leonard said that: "I wish to express to you, dear Brother in the Episcopate, as well as to all the Bishops of Belgium, my closeness and my solidarity at this moment of sadness, in which, with certain surprising and deplorable modalities, searches have been carried out, including in the Cathedral of Mechelen and in the premises where the Belgian Episcopate was meeting in Plenary Session.

After the Belgian general election of 2007, Belgium entered a period of communitarian tensions and political instability, mostly caused by the different opinions about the need and the extent of a state reform.

On 9 July 2008, Bishop Léonard published an open letter on the website of the Diocese of Namur entitled The end of Belgium?

If we need months to negotiate the formation of a government, how many years would we need to resolve issues raised by a division of the country: the status of Brussels, the fate of the monarchy, not to mention the innumerable legal and tax problems.

They must learn, each according to his social role, to know and to love the language and culture of their northern neighbors.The letter was published the same month in the Dutch Catholic magazine Katholiek Nieuwsblad.

I know that in a few years, I will risk prison by saying this, but it could offer me vacations.As a consequence, Léonard was charged with homophobia under Belgium's 2003 Anti-Discrimination Act, after gay activists have said he sought to "stigmatize" homosexuals.

"[23] In April 2013, Léonard was doused with water from bottles shaped like the Virgin Mary by four topless FEMEN activists while participating in a debate with philosophy professor Guy Haarscher on the subject of blasphemy and freedom of speech at the Université libre de Bruxelles.

[26] Upon reaching the age of 75 on 6 May 2015, Léonard submitted his resignation as archbishop to the Apostolic Nuncio of the Holy See to Belgium, as required by Church law.