Since his election on May 8 last year, Pope Leo XIV has named numerous bishops to fill posts around the world, also in the USA. Before becoming pope, Cardinal Robert Prevost was himself in charge of proposing new bishops for established Latin Rite dioceses around the world. So, while such decisions are never taken lightly, Leo XIV is particularly keyed in to the needs and criteria involved.
As of May 6, 2026, he has made 26 appointments of bishops for his homeland. This includes raising priests to the bishopric, elevating auxiliary bishops to new dioceses, and transferring ordinary bishops to new sees. Eleven of these bishops — 42% — were born outside the United States. Sixteen of them are under 60 years old, and the youngest is 45. Only three come from religious communities: a Jesuit, a Benedictine, and an Oratorian. They come from countries across North and South America, Asia, and Africa (but not Europe). Among them are a former undocumented immigrant from El Salvador and two former refugees from Vietnam.
This diversity reflects the diversity of the Church in America itself. Immigrants have of course always been a key Catholic demographic in the USA, since it is itself a nation of immigrants. However, over the past century their countries of origin have mostly shifted away from Europe.
Just in the first week of May this year, Leo XIV has appointed five bishops. On May 1, 2026, he made four episcopal appointments: two of them are immigrants, and a third will be the youngest bishop in the country. The fourth was a later vocation with a background in military service. Then, on May 6, he named the fifth, tapping a Jesuit priest to head the Diocese of Honolulu.
From undocumented immigrant to diocesan bishop
Pope Leo assigned Bishop Evelio Menjivar-Ayala, until now auxiliary bishop of Washington DC, to be the bishop of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston in West Virginia. His dramatic story as a former undocumented immigrant has put him in the spotlight in recent years. This is especially the case as he has spoken out against anti-immigrant rhetoric and in defense of the dignity of all human beings.
Bishop Menjivar-Ayala was born in Chaletenango, El Salvador, on August 14, 1970, in a family of farmers living in poverty. When he was 18, he sought to flee the violent conflict between the military dictatorship and guerillas by migrating to the USA. This same conflict had resulted in the death of Archbishop Oscar Romero (now a canonized saint), six Jesuit priests, three religious sisters, and a lay missionary.
His first two tries to reach the United States failed; first he was jailed in Mexico and deported, and the second time he turned back, due to obstacles at the Guatemala-Mexico border. On his third attempt, he managed to cross through Mexico to the United States, but only after having been jailed again in Mexico due to his undocumented status.
At last, after crossing the border, he found work doing various menial jobs, and became active in his local parish. It was thanks to a paid position in youth ministry that he was able to get his green card.
Eventually he was able to pursue his priestly vocation. He had started to feel the call while still in El Salvador but the difficult circumstances there had made it impossible to follow up on it.
Menjivar-Ayala was ordained a priest on May 29, 2004, for the archdiocese of Washington DC. After he served in several parishes, Pope Francis appointed him auxiliary bishop of Washington DC on December 19, 2022; he was consecrated bishop on February 14, 2023. His new mission in West Virginia has once again boosted his profile as a shepherd with great empathy and understanding for the migrants and the marginalized.
A new “youngest bishop”
Among the May 1 changes, Leo XIV appointed two new auxiliary bishops for Washington DC, selected from the local diocesan clergy: Father Gary R. Studniewski and Father Robert P. Boxie III. Their appointment comes as the Holy Father accepts the resignation of Auxiliary Bishop Roy E. Campbell Jr, who is now age 78 (over the canonical retirement age), and transfers (the third appointment on the same day) Auxiliary Bishop Evelio Menjivar-Ayala, as mentioned above.
Bishop-elect Robert P. Boxie III will be the youngest bishop in the USA. He was born on September 12, 1980, in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Before discovering his priestly vocation, he studied chemical engineering at Vanderbilt University in Nashville and completed his doctorate in law from Harvard University. The future bishop worked as a lawyer before entering the seminary. Cardinal Donald Wuerl ordained him to the priesthood for the archdiocese of Washington on June 15, 2016.
After ordination, he received his licentiate in theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. He served in a parish, and then starting in 2020, as chaplain at Howard University.
Archbishop Shelton Fabre of Louisville, Kentucky, congratulated Bishop-elect Boxie on Facebook. “As a fellow native son of Louisiana, I believe this appointment draws on Bishop-elect Boxie’s ‘priestly heart’ and his background in pastoral and social ministry with particular emphasis on vocations, young adults, and campus ministry.”
From soldier to military chaplain
Bishop-elect Gary R. Studniewski is originally from Toledo, Ohio, where he was born on May 8, 1957. He first studied biology at the University of Toledo, then served in the US Military from 1980 to 1989. From 1990 to 1995, he studied for the priesthood in Rome.
After ordination for the archdiocese of Washington on June 24, 1995, he served in a parish for three years. From 1998 to 2016, he was involved in military chaplaincy. Since 2022 he has been the parish priest of the Shrine of the Blessed Sacrament.
Cardinal Robert W. McElroy of Washington welcomed the nominations as “a day of great joy for the archdiocese of Washington.” He praised Bishop-designate Studniewski for his “true priestly, pastoral care, leadership skills, energy,” and “ability to speak about God” in a way that reaches the faithful.
The cardinal also noted Bishop-designate Boxie’s effective work with youth, a pastoral priority in Washington DC. His “ability to be a leader for the renewal and enhancement of the Black communities” of the archdiocese, Cardinal McElroy pointed out, is also of great importance “now and for our future.”
A Colombian-born bishop-elect for Tyler, Texas
On the same day, the Holy Father appointed Father John Jairo Gómez of the Diocese of Tyler, Texas, where he was vicar general, as the new bishop of Laredo. Like Bishop Evelio Menjivar-Ayala, he is an immigrant, born in Colombia on December 15, 1975.
Bishop-elect Gómez immigrated to the United States in 2002. After his first period of studies for the priesthood in Houston, he went to Rome, where he received his licentiate in canon law from the Pontifical Gregorian University.
He received priestly ordination on May 13, 2009, for the diocese of Tyler. The bishop-elect has served in various parishes and curial roles, including judicial vicar and later vicar general of the diocese. He is replacing the retiring bishop, James A. Tamayo.
A Jesuit bishop for Honolulu
Lastly, on May 6, Pope Leo XIV appointed Michael T. Castori, S.J., as the new bishop of Honolulu. Born on October 21, 1960, he has an impressive academic background, including studies in classics at Harvard, Hebrew languages at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and a PhD in near eastern religions at the University of California, Berkeley. He has held a variety of teaching positions, including in Guam, the Marshall Islands, Fiji, and the Philippines.
Ordained to the priesthood in 1998, he has been involved in parish ministry, prison ministry, and various hospital chaplaincies, in Fiji, Tonga, and California.
