Michael Banach
Michael Wallace Banach is an American prelate of the Catholic Church who works in the diplomatic service of the Holy See.Biography
Michael Wallace Banach was born on November 19, 1962, in Worcester, Massachusetts. He was ordained on July 2, 1988, as a priest for the Diocese of Worcester. In 1992, he completed his preparation for a diplomatic career at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy.
On January 22, 2007 he was appointed as Permanent Observer of the Holy See at the United Nations Office at Vienna and United Nations Industrial Development Organization and Permanent Representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in Vienna.
On February 22, 2013, Pope Benedict XVI named him Titular Archbishop of Memphis and gave him the title apostolic nuncio. On April 16, Pope Francis appointed him the Apostolic Nuncio to Papua New Guinea.
He received his episcopal consecration from Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone on April 27, 2013 in Rome. Co-consecrators were the cardinals of the Curia Marc Ouellet and Fernando Filoni.
On May 18, 2013, Pope Francis appointed Banach to the additional post of Apostolic Nuncio to the Solomon Islands.
On March 19, 2016, Pope Francis named him Apostolic Nuncio to Senegal and Apostolic Delegate to Mauritania. To that was added the titles Apostolic Nuncio to Cape Verde on July 9, 2016, and Apostolic Nuncio to Guinea-Bissau on August 22, 2016.
On May 13, 2017, Pope Francis changed his title in Mauritania to Apostolic Nuncio.
