Eugene Ghinea, who began his career with the Diocese 18 years ago as computer support technician, left his position at Director of Information Technology Services for the Diocese in January to take a similar position in the City of San Bernardino.
Ghinea, who stepped into his role as the leader of the IT Office in 2014, was praised for his creative and service-oriented approach. His team has been instrumental since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, helping diocesan employees work remotely and working with parishes to develop their technologies for videoconferencing and livestreaming.
“Eugene’s leadership has been invaluable to the Diocese, especially over these past 11 months as our faith communities have become so much more reliant on technologies to carry on their ministries,” said John Andrews, Director of the Diocesan Department of Communications, of which the IT Office is a part. “He was a talented and faithful servant of the local Church for 18 years.”
Under Ghinea’s leadership, the Diocese greatly expanded its Internet capability and volume of use, email capacity and videoconferencing sites, through which the Ministry Formation Institute (MFI) of the Diocese offers its weekly Continuing Ministry Formation Program (CMFP). Ghinea worked closely with the Catholic schools of the Diocese in providing technology upgrades through grants provided by Caritas Telecommunications.
He credits the mentorship and empowerment he received after he came to work for the Diocese with his ability to rise up the ranks of the IT Office.
“It goes back to the people I had around me,” he said, “being able to recognize my potential.
“When I started working here, I never imagined advancing this far. I always focused on doing a really good job. I focused on my ministry.”