Bishop Evelio Menjivar-Ayala
Bishop Evelio Menjivar was born August 14, 1970, in Chalatenango, El Salvador. He migrated to the United States in 1990 and, in 2023, became the first Salvadoran bishop in the country.
Bishop Menjivar attended St. John Vianney College Seminary in Miami, Florida, receiving a bachelor’s degree in philosophy. He attended the North American College in Rome and obtained a master’s degree in theology from the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Rome (“Angelicum”) in 2002. He pursued licentiate studies at the Pontifical Scalabrinian Institute for Pastoral Theology for Human Mobility in Rome before his ordination. He was ordained to the priesthood for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington on May 29, 2004.
Bishop Menjivar’s assignments in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington have included posts as parochial vicar at Mother Seton Catholic Church in Germantown; St. Bartholomew Catholic Church in Bethesda; the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington; and as pastor of Our Lady Queen of the Americas Catholic Church in Washington. From 2017 to 2023, he served as pastor of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Landover Hills. He speaks English, Spanish, and Italian.
He previously served as dean of Middle Prince George’s County Deanery and was also a member of the Archdiocesan Child Protection Advisory Board. In 2023, Cardinal Wilton Gregory named him Vicar General of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington. He is currently a member of the Priest Personnel Board, the Administrative Board, the College of Consultors, and the Priest Council. He also serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Maryland Catholic Conference, Catholic Charities, and Catholic Relief Services. He is also the Episcopal Moderator of the National Catholic Ecclesial Movements and a Member of the USCCB Committee on Communications.
In 2024, he was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Georgetown University. Throughout his ministry, he has actively supported workers and continues to promote social justice for immigrants.
Bishop Menjivar was ordained as an auxiliary bishop of Washington on February 21, 2023, by Cardinal Wilton Gregory at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle.
