Pope appoints former undocumented immigrant as bishop of West Virginia

Leo, who has criticized Trump’s hardline immigration policy, selected Evelio Menjivar-Ayala as state’s new bishop Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox 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. Menjivar-Ayala said he accepted his new role “with great joy and humility” at a Friday-morning news conference. 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