Pope Leo XIV on Friday appointed a former undocumented migrant in the United States as bishop in West Virginia.
The Vatican said in a statement that Evelio Menjivar-Ayala (56), the current auxiliary bishop in Washington DC, has been appointed bishop of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston in West Virginia.
Menjivar-Ayala, born in El Salvador, emigrated to the United States in 1990, according to the Washington Archdiocese website.
Menjivar-Ayala grew up in poverty and wanted to escape the armed conflict in his country by emigrating to the United States. He was initially arrested in Mexico when he attempted to enter the United States. In an interview last year, he said he paid a bribe to be released and crossed the border into Tijuana.
