Pope Appoints Former Undocumented Immigrant as Bishop of West Virginia

Pope Leo XIV has appointed a man who had once entered the United States as an undocumented immigrant, hidden in the trunk of a car, as the new bishop of West Virginia.

The pope approved the resignation of Bishop Mark E Brennan of Wheeling-Charleston, West Virginia, and selected Bishop Evelio Menjivar-Ayala, 55, of Washington to take his place, reported OSV News.

Bishop Menjivar-Ayala moved to the US in 1990. In 2023, he became the first Salvadorian bishop in the country, serving as an auxiliary bishop in the archdiocese of Washington. Considered among the first US bishops born in Central America, he has spoken publicly urging Catholics to oppose Donald Trump’s aggressive policies toward immigrants, according to the Washington Post.

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Born on 14 August 1970, in Chalatenango, El Salvador, Menjivar-Ayala’s journey to the priesthood began in the violence of the Salvadorian civil war, where he and his family narrowly survived being fired upon by soldiers while fleeing their home, he previously told the Catholic Standard. After two failed attempts to reach the US, hindered by deportation and a guide who deserted the migrant group, he finally succeeded on his third try, despite a brief imprisonment in Mexico and a grueling desert crossing.

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