Hyattsville, Maryland —
In the heart of deep-red Appalachia, a top Catholic official will soon be delivering services with a heavy Spanish accent. But Father Evelio Menjívar Ayala seems unfazed by his new job – or the politics swirling around it.
West Virginia is “almost heaven,” Menjívar told CNN. “But there are many challenges that must be worked on so that the Kingdom of God becomes present there.”
Menjívar, who arrived undocumented in the United States in 1990, is the Bishop-designate of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, which covers all of West Virginia – a state President Donald Trump won in three consecutive presidential elections.
His…