Evelio Menjivar-Ayala

Salvadorian priest and bishop designate

His Excellency, The Most Reverend Evelio Menjivar-Ayala
Auxiliary Bishop of Washington Titular Bishop of Aëtus
Archdiocese	Washington
Appointed	December 19, 2022
Installed	February 21, 2023
Other post(s)	Titular Bishop of Aëtus
Orders
Ordination	May 29, 2004 by Theodore McCarrick
Consecration	February 21, 2023 by Wilton Daniel Gregory, Mario E. Dorsonville, and Roy Edward Campbell
Personal details
Born	(1970-08-14) August 14, 1970 (age 53) Chalatenango, El Salvador
Motto	Ibat cum illis (He walked with them)

Styles of Evelio Menjivar-Ayala

Reference style	His Excellency The Most Reverend
Spoken style	Your Excellency
Religious style	Bishop

Evelio Menjivar-Ayala (born August 14, 1970) is a Salvadoran-born priest of the Catholic Church who serves as auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Washington in the District of Columbia and Southern Maryland. He is the first Central American to serve as bishop in the United States.^[1]

Biography

Early life

Evelio Menjivar-Ayala was born on August 14, 1970, in Chalatenango, El Salvador. As a teenager, he made three attempts to enter the United States illegally. He finally arrived in California in 1990, having been smuggled in the trunk of a car with his brother over the border crossing between Tijuana, Mexico, and San Diego, California.^[2]

Over the next several years, Menjivar-Ayala worked janitorial and construction jobs in California. Deciding to become a priest, he entered the St. John Vianney College Seminary in Miami, Florida, in 1995, where he received a bachelor's degree in philosophy in 1999.^[3]

Menjivar-Ayala went to Rome in 1999 to enter the seminary at the Pontifical North American College. He received a Master of Theology degree from the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas in 2002. He completed further studies at the Scalabrini International Migration Institute (SIMI), part of the Pontifical Urban University in Rome, where he earned a licentiate. Menjivar-Ayala was ordained a deacon in St. Peter's Basilica on October 10, 2002, by Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan.^[4]

Priesthood

On May 29, 2004, Menjivar-Ayala was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Washington by Cardinal Theodore McCarrick at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington.^[5] The archdiocese assigned Menjivar-Ayala as parochial vicar at the following parishes:

Mother Seton in Germantown, Maryland (2004 to 2008)
Saint Bartholomew the Apostle in Bethesda, Maryland (2009)
Cathedral of Saint Matthew the Apostle in Washington (2009 to 2013) ^[3]

In 2013, Menjivar-Ayala was appointed pastor of Our Lady Queen of the Americas Parish in Washington. He was transferred in 2017 to St. Mary's Church in Landover Hills, Maryland, to serve as pastor there.^[3]

Auxiliary Bishop of Washington

Pope Francis appointed Menjivar-Ayala as an auxiliary bishop of Washington on December 19, 2022.^[3]^[4] He was consecrated on February 21, 2023, by Cardinal Wilton Gregory at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle. The co-consecrators were Bishop Mario Dorsonville and Auxiliary Bishop Roy Campbell.^[5]

His motto, Ibat cum illis ("He walked with them"), comes from Luke 24:15.^[4]

References

^ Tumulty, Karen (July 24, 2023). "He was an undocumented immigrant. He became 'your excellency.'". The Washington Post.
^ Acosta, Andrea (February 24, 2023). "From humble roots in El Salvador, new Bishop Evelio Menjivar believes 'faith is a path where God sets the pace'". Catholic Standard. Archived from the original on 2023-04-06. Retrieved 2023-05-25.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Pope Francis Names New Auxiliary Bishops of Washington". US Conference of Catholic Bishops. December 19, 2022. Archived from the original on December 19, 2022. Retrieved December 19, 2022.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Pope Francis Names Two Auxiliary Bishops for Washington". Archdiocese of Washington. Archived from the original on December 19, 2022. Retrieved December 19, 2022.
^ ^a ^b "Bishop Evelio Menjivar-Ayala [Catholic-Hierarchy]". www.catholic-hierarchy.org. Archived from the original on 2023-08-11. Retrieved 2024-04-12.

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to Evelio Menjivar-Ayala.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Evelio Menjivar-Ayala.

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington Official Site
Tumulty, Karen (24 July 2023). "He was an undocumented immigrant. He became 'your excellency.'". Washington Post. Retrieved 24 July 2023.

Episcopal succession

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by –	Auxiliary Bishop of Washington 2023–present	Succeeded by –

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington

Ordinaries

Archbishops: Michael Joseph Curley; Patrick O'Boyle; William Wakefield Baum; James Aloysius Hickey; Theodore McCarrick; Donald Wuerl; Wilton Daniel Gregory

Auxiliaries: John Michael McNamara; Patrick Joseph McCormick; Philip Hannan; William Joseph McDonald; John Selby Spence; Edward John Herrmann; Thomas William Lyons; Eugene Antonio Marino; Thomas C. Kelly; Álvaro Corrada del Río; William G. Curlin; Leonard Olivier; William E. Lori; Kevin Farrell; Francisco González Valer, SF; Martin Holley; Barry C. Knestout; Mario E. Dorsonville; Roy Edward Campbell; Michael William Fisher; Juan Esposito-Garcia; Evelio Menjivar-Ayala

Churches
and parishes

Cathedral: Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle

Parish churches: Sacred Heart Church, Bowie; St. Ambrose Church, Cheverly; St. Francis Xavier Church, Compton; St. Mary Church, Newport; St. Ignatius Church, Oxon Hill; St. Ignatius Church, Port Tobacco; St. Mary Church, Rockville; St. Ignatius Church, St. Inigoes; Holy Trinity Church, Washington; Immaculate Conception Church, Washington; St. Aloysius Church, Washington; St. Anthony of Padua Church, Washington; St. Augustine Church, Washington; St. Patrick's Church, Washington; St. Peter's Church, Washington; St. Stephen Martyr Church, Washington; Our Lady Star of the Sea Church, Solomons; St. John the Baptist, Silver Spring; St. John the Evangelist, Silver Spring; Our Lady, Queen of Poland and St. Maximilian Kolbe Parish