Léocadie Lushombo is associate professor of theological ethics at the Jesuit School of Theology of SA国际传媒.
Born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, her scholarship centers on Political theology and Christian theological ethics, especially in global contexts.
Her research focuses on Christian social thought, with particular attention to Catholic social teaching, economic globalization, political theology, African Christian theological ethics, liberation theology, ethics of nonviolence and just peace, and feminist theology. Her works bridge the intersection of these fields.
Education
She earned her Ph.D in theological ethics from Boston College; her S.T.L. (sacred theology licentiate) degree from Boston College’s School of Theology and Ministry, and completed three master’s degrees: in theological ethics from the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago; in sustainable development from the Universidad Pontificio Comillas in Spain, and in economics and development at the Catholic University of Central Africa in Cameroon.
Academic and NGO Work
Prior to becoming an educator, she worked for more than a decade in non-governmental organizations, serving as a researcher and consultant-trainer on justice, peace, and gender issues in the Great Lakes Region of Central Africa and in Latin America. She did so as part of the Teresian Association, a group she joined starting at age 20, which was founded by St. Pedro Poveda (Spain), who took inspiration from Teresa of Avila. Members are committed to putting their faith into practice and contributing to human flourishing and social transformation by means of education and culture. They are called upon to engage faith and cultures in dialogue, to commit themselves to the rights of those who are most vulnerable, and to seek to advance the fair and solidarity-based development of all peoples.
Since then, as a theologian drawing on Catholic Social Teaching, economics, development studies, and lived experience, she examines how theological ethics and ethical methods inform social and economic justice and rearticulate Christian ethical thoughts considering the Church's call on the Preferential Option for the Poor.
Recent projects include studies on ecological sustainability and Indigenous knowledge; Pope Francis’ thought on an “economy that kills;” and globalization and the New World Order. By integrating theological, ethical, and socio-political analysis, Lushombo seeks to advance scholarship that is both intellectually rigorous and socially engaged, fostering ethically informed action for peace, justice, and human flourishing.
As a professor, through courses such as Fundamental Moral Theology, Christian Ethics and Migration, Methods in Ethics, Ethics of Nonviolence and Just Peacemaking, and Political Theology, she encourages her students to reflect critically on the many ethical challenges in contemporary society— including war, migration, environmental justice, and civic participation. Lushombo's interest and teaching in Methods in Theological Ethics is strongly engaged with global perspectives. For this engagement, she is heavily inspired by Bernard Lonergan's transcendental precepts, Lisa Cahill's Global Justice, and Emmanuel Katongole's social imagination.
Vatican Appointments
In the spring of 2026, she was appointed by Pope Leo XIV to be a member of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, which was formed “to express the Church’s solicitude in the fields of justice, peace, the safeguarding of all of Creation, as well as in those that concern health and works of charity,” including defending and promoting the dignity and fundamental rights of human persons as well as their social, economic and political rights.
Before that, in spring 2024, she was appointed by the Vatican Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops to be a member of a key study group tasked with addressing topics raised by the Synod on Synodality: hearing the cry of the poor and the earth, which issued the report, “,” in March.
Books
She is the author or editor of three books including the upcoming “ “(2026), co-edited with Joseph Ogbonnaya; “,” (2024) co-edited with Beatrice Okyere-Manu; and “,” (2023), as well as numerous articles and book chapters.
Articles and Writings
Recent writings include: “This Economy kills”: Christian Moral Response in an Economically Globalized World,” (Marquette University Press, 2026); “Religious Women Teachers of Synodality: The “Abundant Catch” of the Peripheries,” (Orbis Press, 2025); “Ecological Sustainability for ‘Life on Land’: Wellspring of Indigenous Knowledge.” Religions (February 28, 2025); “Luke-Acts on the Primacy of Faith Over Evil Civil/Political Commands,” (Georgetown University Press, 2023), “African Women’s Theologies,” (Cascade Books, 2023), “Fratelli tutti: Toward a Community of Fraternity with the Wounded Women,” (Journal of Catholic Social Thought, 2022); “African Women Christology,” (Catholic Theological Ethic in the World Church, 2022), “The Politics of Forest Conservation: Ethical Dilemmas and Impact on Peacebuilding” (Concilium, 2021), “Ubuntu et les défis théopolitiques des proverbes sur la femme," (Cahiers des Religions Africaines presses, 2021), “Virtue-Based Just Peace Approach and the Challenges of Rape as a Weapon of War…”, (Georgetown University Press, 2020); “Rape-Weapon of War: A Crime of War and A Crime Against Humanity Contemporary Challenges to Peace and Justice…,” (Journal for Peace and Justice Studies, 2019); “Rectifying Political Leadership through a Just Peace Ethic,” (Journal of Moral Theology, 2019), and “Christological Foundations for Political Participation: Women in the Global South Building Agency as Risen Beings,” (Political Theology, 2016).
- Methods in Ethics
- Political Theology
- Ethics of Nonviolence and Just Peacemaking
- Theologies of Liberation: Global Perspectives
- Fundamental Moral Theology
- African Theological Ethics: Development and Issues
- Christian Ethics and Migration
- End of Life Ethics
- Email
- Phone(510) 549-5030
- Curriculum vitae