Leo 52 was bishop of Rhodos; he became bishop in 769 (see below) and in 787 he attended the Second Council of Nikaia (the Seventh Ecumenical Council). A former iconoclast, he was brought before the first session of the Council, on 24 September 787, with certain fellow bishops and iconoclasts (see Hypatios 1) for examination to determine if as former heretics they could be readmitted to communion: Mansi XII 1015. They had all taken part in the disruption of the Council summoned at Constantinople in the previous year: Mansi XII 1015-1018. In reply to questions from Tarasios 1 he admitted that they had sinned and had done so through ignorance and had no defence; he accepted the traditional veneration of icons and regretted that he had maintained his wrong beliefs throughout his eighteen years as a bishop: Mansi XII 1018 (he therefore became bishop of Rhodos in 769), XII 1019 (a plea for mercy). See further Hypatios 1. At the end of the session Leo 52 and the others read out their statements of repentance accepting the veneration of icons, all identical with the previous statement read out by the bishop of Ankyra, Basilios 21; the decision whether or not to readmit them was postponed until a later session: Mansi XII 1050. At the third session, on 28 September 787, after further discussion he and the others were readmitted and allowed to take their seats; Mansi XII 1119. Later in this session he accepted as orthodox the statements of the faith contained in letters from Tarasios 1 and the eastern patriarchs and also condemned iconoclasts: Mansi XII 1151.

Styled Λέων ὁ εὐλαβέστατος ἐπίσκοπος Ῥόδου or similar: Mansi XII 1015, XII 1018, XII 1019, XII 1151. He is attested at the fourth and seventh sessions, on 1 October and 13 October 787, and was probably present at the last six sessions, from 28 September to 23 November 787: Mansi XII 1119-XII 486. In the list of those present at the seventh session he is styled Λέοντος ἐπισκόπου Ῥόδου: Mansi XIII 365. Elsewhere he is styled Λέων ὁσιώτατος ἐπίσκοπος Ῥόδου or similar: Mansi XIII 41, XIII 137 (ἀνάξιος), XIII 384 (ἀνάξιος). At the fourth session he gave thanks that the emperor (Konstantinos 8 [and Eirene 1?]) had taken steps to restore the Church, which had suffered for so long: Mansi XIII 41-44. Later he subscribed the statements read out from the Fathers in support of the veneration of icons: Mansi XIII 137. At the seventh session he subscribed the statement of the faith adopted by the Council: Mansi XIII 384.

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