Pope Francis has named Archbishop Michael W. Banach the apostolic nuncio for Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.
Pope Benedict XVI had named Banach, a Vatican diplomat, to be an apostolic nuncio, which carries with it the title of archbishop, in February.
He was born the son of Wallace and Jane Banach. He grew up in Auburn and attended Pakachoag Elementary School and Auburn High School.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy at the College of the Holy Cross, then studied for the priesthood at the North American College in Rome.
He was ordained a priest by Bishop Harrington in St. Paul Cathedral. He served as associate pastor at St. Anne’s Parish in Shrewsbury before beginning studies in Rome in 1992 at the Gregorian University and earning a doctorate in Canon Law in 1994.
Banach then joined the Vatican Diplomatic Service. He was named a monsignor on Jan 11, 1996 by Pope John Paul II. He served in Bolivia and Nigeria and, as desk officer for Central Europe for the Vatican Secretary of State, worked in Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria.
He was serving as the Holy See’s permanent representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency (AIEA), to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and to the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), and Holy See permanent observer to the United Nations Organization for Industrial Development (ONUDI), and to the Office of the United Nations in Vienna, Austria.
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