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Feature News | Monday, October 20, 2014

Banich is back, in her ‘dream job'

Synod director returns as head of Youth and Young Adult Ministry

Synod Director Rosemarie Banich applauds at the conclusion of the Synod closing assembly in October 2013.

Photographer: ANA RODRIGUEZ-SOTO | FC

Synod Director Rosemarie Banich applauds at the conclusion of the Synod closing assembly in October 2013.

MIAMI | The new director of Youth and Young Adult Ministry for the Archdiocese of Miami is a familiar face to many: Rosemarie Banich spent most of 2012 and 2013 attending listening sessions and guiding focus teams while serving as director of the archdiocesan Synod.

 Now she returns in what she calls her “dream job.” Youth ministry “has always been my passion,” she said.

Banich, who grew up in Miami, still attends St. Rose of Lima Parish in Miami Shores, the place where she graduated from elementary school. She noted that she herself is a product of youth ministry, since she was a “very active participant at St. Rose’s CYO in the 1980s.”

After graduating from Archbishop Curley-Notre Dame Prep in Miami, she went on to study English at the University of South Florida in Tampa and obtain a law degree from the University of Miami.

She practiced law here for a few years before moving to California, where she spent more than 20 years working as a catechist and youth minister, first as a volunteer and then as director of youth ministry at a large suburban parish in Los Angeles.

She called her archdiocesan appointment “a unique opportunity,” because the office is re-opening after closing in 2009. The reopening is, in fact, a fulfillment of one of the Synod goals.

Banich cited “the excitement of starting anew, combined with the fact that people are so supportive and so desiring of this to happen.”

Her plans for the office revolve primarily around “providing support to all adults who minister to youth and young adults in the archdiocese,” by offering them training, information and opportunities to come together.

She also is looking forward to “creating some sort of archdiocesan events for both youths and young adults.”

“The biggest” is already in the pipeline, she said: Archbishop Thomas Wenski has agreed to lead a pilgrimage of about 100 young people to World Youth Day in Poland the summer of 2016.

Banich expects to hold the first informational meeting this November, to give young people enough time to decide, raise funds for their travel expenses, and undergo the formation program that is part of every World Youth Day.

“The formation program is going to start in early 2015,” said Banich — and anyone who worked with her on the Synod knows she has the leadership and organizational skills to make it happen.

FYI

The Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry is part of the newly created Secretariat for Evangelization and Parish Life, which is headed by Stephen Colella. Banich can be reached at [email protected] or 305-762-1189.

Comments from readers

Vilma Angulo - 10/21/2014 01:01 PM
Rosemarie's "dream job"....our answer to prayer! The Archdiocesan youth and young adults are blessed to have you accept this position!! Be assured of my prayers. Vilma Angulo

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