Pope names Menjivar-Ayala, immigrant from El Salvador, to lead Catholic Church in WV

Evelio Menjivar-Ayala, a formerly undocumented immigrant from El Salvador who went on to be the United States’ first Salvadorian bishop, will be the next bishop of the Catholic Church in West Virginia.

The Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston made the announcement Friday in Wheeling, West Virginia. Menjivar-Ayala will succeed Rev. Mark Brennan as the diocese’s 10th bishop. 

Menjivar-Ayala said he received the news of his appointment with “great joy and humility.” 

“Deep in my heart, I feel that the Lord is sending me here to love you and to serve you,” he said. “This is the only agenda that I bring, to love you and to serve you the best that I can. To grow in faith and in fidelity to Christ together, and then to witness to the love of Christ here in the heart of Appalachia, in this land of striking beauty, rich in diversity and in natural resources, at the same time, a place where many Of the people continue to endure hardship, marginalization and inequality.”

Menjivar-Ayala, 56, was born in Chalatenango, El Salvador. He came to the United States in  1990 and became auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Washington in 2023.

The Washington Post reported that Menjivar-Ayala came to the U.S. as an undocumented immigrant when he was a teenager and was smuggled into the country in the trunk of a car. He has called on Catholics to speak against President Donald Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration.

According to the diocese, Menjivar-Ayala attended St. John Vianney College Seminary in Miami, Florida, and earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy. He attended the North American College in Rome and has a master’s degree in theology from the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Rome.

He was ordained to the priesthood for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington on May 29, 2004.

In the news release, Brennan, who has led the church since 2019, called Menjivar-Ayala’s appointment an answer to prayer.

“Many faithful across the diocese and I have prayed to God for a true shepherd of the people to  lead our diocese into the future,” Brennan said. “I truly believe God has answered our prayers with the appointment of Bishop Evelio Menjivar.”

Menjivar-Ayala will be formally installed as the new Wheeling-Charleston bishop July 2 at a service in Wheeling.