Pope Leo Elevates Clergyman Who Entered America Illegally To Be the Bishop of West Virginia

Amid the Trump administration’s contentious relationship with the Vatican, Pope Leo XIV is promoting a man who had illegally entered America in 1990 to lead the diocese in West Virginia.Trump officials have frequently been at odds with the Catholic Church over the administration’s immigration crackdown — and the war in Iran — as bishops have criticized the deportation operations and the treatment of migrants. On Friday, Pope Leo named Bishop Evelio Menjivar-Ayala to be the bishop of West Virginia. He has been serving as the auxiliary bishop at the archdiocese of Washington, D.C.A journalist focused on the Vatican and Pope Leo, Christopher Hale, wrote in his Substack “Letters from Leo” that Bishop Menjivar is the first American bishop born in El Salvador.“He tried to cross the southern border three times before he succeeded in 1990 — smuggled with his brother in the trunk of a car at the Tijuana–San Diego crossing,” Mr. Hale wrote. “His story is the one Donald Trump’s administration would deport.”The Washington Post reported that he became a citizen in 2006. Mr. Hale said that the decision is a “remarkable choice in a state that is over 90 percent white and voted for President Trump by 42 points.” About six percent of state residents are Catholic, while an overwhelming majority are Protestant, according to American Demografia, which tracks census data.In April 2025, Bishop Menjivar wrote an opinion article in the National Catholic Reporter urging government officials to criticize Mr. Trump’s immigration policies.“It is time now for you to reclaim your conscience. What you are doing is worth nothing if it is stained with unjust cruelty,” he wrote. “You too can and should speak out against this terror and infliction of suffering on people. You can refuse to be involved in oppression and these grievous assaults on human rights and dignity.”Mr. Hale noted that His Holiness also named Reverend Robert Boxie, who serves as Catholic chaplain at Howard University, as an auxiliary bishop at Washington, D.C. According to the Washington Post, “Boxie — whom Leo named as auxiliary bishop of Washington — specifically expressed concern about the Trump administration’s attack on efforts to boost diversity, equity and inclusion, suggesting that the nation’s journey toward racial progress is ‘regressing.’”Despite the pushback from the White House, the appointments on Friday appear to signal that the Vatican is not backing down from its criticism of the Trump administration’s immigration policies. The border tsar, Tom Homan, said during a TurningPoint event that he would like to talk to Pope Leo because he said Catholic leaders are “talking about something they don’t understand.”“An open border is the most inhumane thing you can do,” Mr. Homan said. “When you make that promise to the whole world, the most vulnerable people will give their life’s savings to the cartels to make that dangerous journey.”

Pope Leo Elevates Clergyman Who Entered America Illegally To Be the Bishop of West Virginia

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