First Salvadoran bishop in America installed as leader of Catholic Church in West Virginia

WHEELING, W.Va (WDTV) - The Most Rev. Evelio Menjivar-Ayala was installed Thursday as the 10th bishop of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston at the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Wheeling.

The installation came two months after Pope Leo XIV appointed him to serve as bishop of the diocese, which serves more than 100,000 Catholics in West Virginia.

Bishop Menjivar’s journey began in the village of Chalatenango in El Salvador. As a teenager, he fled the country during a civil war in the 1980s and ’90s. He became an American citizen in 2006.

In 2023, he was appointed as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Washington, becoming the first Salvadoran-born bishop in America.

Bishop Menjivar said his experience as an immigrant has shaped his faith and his approach to serving the diocese.

“The Episcopal theme for my whole Episcopacy is he walks with them,” he said. “So, Jesus walking with the disciples. As an immigrant, I know what that means. That means to just to meet people on the road, to walk with them and engage with them without judgment and without agenda. I think my migration story says a lot also about who the church is.”

Hundreds of family members, fellow Catholic clergymen, and others in the church community traveled to Wheeling to attend the installation.

Among them was Marcos Acosta, a member of the Neocatechumenal Way — a Catholic Church program designed to help those who have fallen away from the church to rediscover their faith — who met Bishop Menjivar in Washington, D.C.

“We met him in Washington. He helped us a lot,” Acosta said. “We are members of the communities of the Neocatechumenal Way down in Washington, and there he was very supportive to us. And that’s why in our gratitude, we are here supporting him.”

Bishop Menjivar said his first goal is getting to know all those he will be working with in the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston. While he feels a responsibility to represent fellow Hispanics in the Catholic Church, he said he will serve all West Virginians.

“I come to serve everyone. Not just the Hispanics, but everyone. I’m a shepherd. I’m a bishop for all, for everyone,” he said.

He also noted a familiarity with the state, saying he has visited West Virginia for five years.

“The hospitality here is great. People really know how to welcome people, and this is what I have felt here in West Virginia,” he said.

Editor’s note: The video for this story will be added once it airs. Please check back for the updated video.