Banach is apostolic nuncio

Faith, Normal
Source:

The National, Thursday 18th April 2013

 ARCHBISHOP Michael Banach has been appointed the apostolic nuncio to Papua New Guinea.

The Apostolic Nunicature in PNG announced his appointment on Tuesday to replace Archbishop Santo Rocco Gangemi who took up the post March 24 last year.

Banach served as the Vatican’s representative to several international agencies based in Vienna.

Pope Francis made the appointment.

The 50-year-old prelate, who has held several diplomatic posts over the years, was named titular archbishop of Memfi in Egypt by Pope Benedict XVI last February and had been awaiting a diplomatic posting since then. 

A nuncio is an ecclesiastical diplomatic title that is equivalent to that of ambassador. 

The nuncio acts as liaison between the Vatican and the country to which he has been assigned. 

Archbishop Banach was born in Worcester and lived with his family in Auburn. 

The son of Wallace M and Jane F (Anisko) Banach, he graduated from the College of the Holy Cross in 1984. 

Archbishop Banach studied for the priesthood at the North American College in Rome and was ordained at St. Paul’s Cathedral by Bishop Timothy J Harrington. 

Elevated to the position of monsignor by Pope John Paul II in 1996, he has worked for the Vatican’s diplomatic corps since 1994 and has served in Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Bolivia, and Bulgaria. 

He has also served as the Holy See’s permanent representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organisation. 

He also served as the Vatican’s permanent observer to the United Nations Organisation for Industrial Development and to the Office of the United Nations in Vienna, Austria. 

Titular bishops, for the most part, memorialise ancient churches, many of which have been suppressed because the regions in which they are located are ruled by non-Christians. 

Pontiffs have often used the titular postings to boost individuals to positions of more authority within the church. 

Archbishop Banach is scheduled to perform his first Mass as a prelate on May 12 at Our Lady of Czestochowa Church on Vernon Hill in Worcester, the parish where his family attended church, officials 

said. 

Worcester Bishop Robert J McManus is expected to take part in the Mass celebration.