Pope Francis names U.S. Vatican diplomat to Pacific islands

Msgr. Michael W. Banach

Pope Francis named U.S. Archbishop-designate Michael W. Banach, a Vatican diplomat, to be apostolic nuncio to Papua New Guinea.

The appointment, which the Vatican announced April 16, came just two months after Pope Benedict XVI named him a Vatican ambassador with the rank of archbishop.

His episcopal ordination was scheduled to take place April 27 in St. Peter’s Basilica, according to the website of Our Lady of Czestochowa Parish in his hometown of Worcester, Mass.

His post in the Pacific islands will be his first placement as nuncio.

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

The 50-year-old has served in the Vatican diplomatic corps since 1994.

Born in Worcester, Mass., Nov. 19, 1962, he was ordained to the priesthood July 2, 1988, for the Diocese of Worcester.

After earning his degree in canon law, he entered the Vatican diplomatic corps and served at Vatican embassies in Bolivia and Nigeria before moving to the Secretariat of State, where he served in the section for relations with states.

In Vienna, he served as the Vatican’s representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency; the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe; the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization; the U.N. Industrial Development Organization; and the local United Nations office.