Henri Boulad was born in Alexandria in 1931. His father comes from a Melkite Greek Catholic family of Syro-Lebanese descent, originally from Damascus, which settled in Egypt in 1860. The Boulad family belongs to the old Damascene bourgeoisie, it has given many clerics including Father Abdel Massih and Father Antoune Boulad. In 1950, Boulad entered the novitiate of the Jesuits in Bikfaya, Lebanon. From 1952 to 1954, he studied at the , then, from 1954-1957, he studied philosophy at the Jesuit scholasticate of Chantilly, Oise, still in France. He taught two years at the Collège de la Sainte Famille in Cairo. After a cycle of theological studies, he was ordained a priest according to the Melkite rite. In 1965, he participated in a Jesuit training program in Pomfret, Connecticut and obtained a PhD in School psychology from the University of Chicago. He returned to Egypt and he still lives there since 1967. He is the religious superior of the Jesuits of Alexandria, then the provincial of the Jesuits of the Near East, and professor of theology in Cairo. In 2004, he became rector of CSF of Jesuits in Cairo. He is strongly committed to serving the poor, Christians and Muslims, a commitment that continues with his involvement in Caritas. From 1984 to 1995, he was director of Caritas Egypt, and president of Caritas North Africa and Middle East. From 1991 to 1995, he was Vice President of Caritas International for the Middle East and North Africa. In 2007, he wrote a letter to Pope Benedict XVI entitled SOS for the Church today, which will be published in 2009. He calls for a revamp of the Catholic Church and proposes a theological and catechetical reform, a pastoral reform and a spiritual renewal, which should be discussed at a synod of the world church. In 2010, he urges Europe "not to lose its soul". As a fine expert of Islam, which he has lived with since childhood in Egypt, he is very critical of some of his contemporary orientations, while insisting that the dialogue between Christians and Muslims must continue, but not in its current form, which is only lies and compromise, and therefore is not dialogue and exasperates it. Defender and human rights activist, he is a privileged observer of the Arab Spring, and particularly the Egyptian Revolution of 2011. He calls on the West not to give in to cynicism, to support people's aspirations for freedom, and not to ally themselves with religious fundamentalists. Father Boulad has published nearly 30 books in 15 languages, particularly in French, Arabic, German and Hungarian. He was promoted to the Commander of the Order of Academic Palms. In 2017, he received Hungarian citizenship and praised Hungary's current policy of defending traditional Christian communities in Europe and elsewhere as a sign for the future. In 2019 he received the Hungarian Order of Merit.
