Pope Leo Appoints Former Undocumented Migrant As Bishop In West VirginiaPope Leo on Friday appointed Rev. Evelio Menjivar-Ayala as the 10th Bishop of Wheeling-Charleston, overseeing the affairs of the Catholic Church in West Virginia.Menjivar-Ayala immigrated to the U.S. in 1990, fleeing a childhood of extreme poverty amid El Salvador’s violent civil war and ultimately finding work as an undocumented immigrant in Los Angeles after three failed attempts to enter the country.In a 2025 interview with “U.S. Catholic,” Menjivar-Ayala recalled working as a janitor, in construction, and whatever other jobs he could find while going to night school to learn English and earn his GED.He told the outlet he believes the church should play a role in helping people overcome their fear of each other, regardless of where they may have been born.“When people know an immigrant personally, the vast majority of them will say, ‘You leave my neighbor alone!’ or ‘You leave my employee alone!’ Why? Because one-on-one, people have a good relationship. The problem is when we get caught up in the rhetoric,” he said.“Inside, deep down, within each person, there is first of all fear, yes, but beyond that, behind that, there’s love, too,” he added. “And there’s hope: to be able to bring out that love, bring out that compassion that fear and lack of information have been obscuring.”He’s also publicly condemned the Trump administration’s egregious mistreatment of immigrants, informed by the repressive Salvadoran regime he fled as a teenager.“More than a few natural-born Americans are saying they do not recognize their country anymore, but many of us from other lands recognize all too well the terror of people being snatched by secret police and disappeared,” he wrote in a 2025 article for National Catholic Reporter.“We left our former countries precisely to get away from it. Yet, too many people are still remaining silent, perhaps out of fear, forgetting that the Holy Spirit gives us the grace of fortitude to boldly speak out for good.”