CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Pope Leo XIV has selected an immigrant advocate who has spoken out against President Trump’s border enforcement efforts to lead West Virginia’s Catholic community.
The Vatican announced Friday that Most Rev. Evelio Menjivar-Ayala, currently serving as an auxiliary bishop in Washington D.C., will become the new bishop of the Wheeling-Charleston Diocese, overseeing all Catholic parishes across West Virginia.
The 55-year-old religious leader was born in El Salvador and escaped that country’s civil conflict as a teenager during the late 1980s. He crossed into America without documentation in 1990, according to his previous interview with The Associated Press, but received humanitarian protection within weeks and eventually obtained religious worker status before becoming a U.S. citizen twenty years ago.
His personal immigration experience has shaped his ministry, particularly his empathy for those facing deportation raids. Speaking about recent federal enforcement actions in Washington, he noted that situation “could have been me.”
The Catholic Church has maintained its position supporting compassionate treatment of migrants globally, and Menjivar-Ayala has joined other church officials in criticizing the current administration’s mass deportation efforts while recognizing nations’ sovereignty over border security.
During Friday’s announcement, Menjivar-Ayala avoided discussing immigration matters or the president, instead emphasizing his commitment to serving West Virginians and learning from the community. Speaking partly in Spanish, he expressed his priorities.
“I have much to learn, but my heart is ready and wide-open,” he said. “Above all, I want to listen to the poor. Those in the margins of the church and society. To workers, to the immigrants, because as Matthew 25 says, the way we treat the least is the way we treat Jesus.”
The demographic contrast between his current and future assignments is significant. More than 40% of parishioners in the Washington archdiocese are Latino, while West Virginia’s population is 92.6% white with only 2.4% Latino residents among its 1.77 million people, Census data shows.
Menjivar-Ayala will succeed Most Rev. Mark Brennan, 79, who has led the diocese since 2019. Brennan assumed leadership following a controversy involving his predecessor’s inappropriate conduct with adults and misuse of church funds. During Friday’s joint announcement in Wheeling, Brennan assured residents about the incoming bishop’s inclusive approach.
“But he loves all the people here. He’s not going to be bishop just for one group within the diocese. He’ll be bishop for all the people. I can assure you of that.”
The incoming bishop, whose ministry has centered in the nation’s capital region, will transition to leading a more rural, less Catholic area with 61,000 Catholics across 92 parishes throughout West Virginia.
While recognizing West Virginia’s scenic mountains and natural wealth, he acknowledged that residents of one of America’s economically struggling states “continue to endure hardship, marginalization and inequality.”
Cardinal Robert McElroy of Washington commended Menjivar-Ayala’s immigrant advocacy work, stating that “his passion for justice and sensitive care for the Hispanic and immigrant communities of our Archdiocese have planted seeds of grace that will yield a harvest here for decades to come.”
In a piece published last year in the Catholic Standard, the Washington archdiocese’s official publication, Menjivar-Ayala criticized the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement approach.
“Each day this situation is getting worse and more ominous,” Menjivar-Ayala wrote. “For weeks now, the federal government has pursued a ‘shock and awe’ campaign of aggressive threats and highly visible operations of questionable legality that go far beyond mere immigration ‘enforcement.’”
The appointment occurs weeks after Pope Leo disagreed with Trump regarding the U.S. conflict with Iran. Menjivar-Ayala’s installation ceremony is scheduled for July 2. The White House has not responded to requests for comment about the appointment.
Friday also brought another Latin American-born priest’s elevation to bishop. Rev. John Gomez, originally from Colombia who arrived on a student visa in 2002 and gained citizenship in 2021, will begin leading the Laredo, Texas diocese on June 30. His current bishop in Tyler, Texas praised his “commitment to Hispanic Ministry.”
Pope Leo’s initial American episcopal appointment following his May 2025 election was also a former refugee: Michael Pham, born in Vietnam, who became San Diego’s bishop.
Declining ordination numbers in America have made foreign-born clergy increasingly vital for parishes nationwide.
