VATICAN CITY: Pope Leo XIV named a former undocumented migrant as bishop of West Virginia on Friday, weeks after a high-profile verbal confrontation with US President Donald Trump.

The US-born leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Cat­holics has been highly critical of Trump over immigration and the Middle East war.

The Vatican in a statement announced the nomination of 56-year-old Evelio Menjivar-Ayala, currently an auxiliary bishop in Washington.

Born in El Salvador, Me­­­n­­jivar-Ayala migrated to the US in 1990, according to a biography on the Wash­ington diocese website.

He has spoken in interviews about being born into poverty and fleeing conflict in his native country to arrive in the US as a refugee. After being initially detained in Mexico trying to get to the US, he said in an interview last year that he paid a bribe to get out and crossed the border at Tijuana.

He was ordained as a priest in 2004 and became a bishop in 2023.

Published in Dawn, May 2nd, 2026