Bishop Paride Taban Passes On

By Okech Francis

Bishop Paride Taban, a South Sudanese prelate of the Catholic Church has passed on.

Taban died from the Kenyan capital Nairobi on Wednesday as the Catholic Church celebrated the feast of All Saints.

By press time, The Dawn could not yet establish the circumstances under which he died but learning of his demise, social media was awash with condolences.

“Bishop Paride is the only Bishop I know in my life from a Rev Fr to a bishop because of his passion for peace for the people of South Sudan,” one Michael Roberto Kenyi said.

“Bishop Emeritus Paride Taban is one of the humble hearted figure full of wisdom. He is passionate about peace among men. He is a great mentor. Glory and honor goes back to the creator. May his soul rest in peace,” Hanna Lona said.

“This is the way of mankind my brothers and sisters in Christ. Indeed we have lost an icon of peace, a very simple, humble, resilient and dedicated Man of God. You left us at the critical moment when the Archdiocese still needs you. We love you but God loves you much,” Gabriel and Co. Advocate said.

“My sincere and heartfelt condolences to the entire family of Catholic Archdiocese and the Nation at large for this great loss of Bishop Emeritus Paride Taban; let us be courageous especial at this critical moment,” he said.

Born in Opari of Eastern Equatoria in 1936, Taban was the first bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Torit in what was then Sudan from 1983 until 2004.

Prior to that, he was Auxiliary Bishop of Juba from 28 Jan 1980 to 2 July 1983.

Taban was ordained a priest on May 24, 1964 and consecrated a Bishop on May 4, 1980 in Kinshasa by Pope John Paul II.

Taban also served as the first leader of the Sudan Council of Churches, which was founded in February 1990.

Until 1990 he and Bishop Nathanael Garang were the only two Bishops active in areas held by the SPLA during the liberation struggle.

Since his retirement from the diocese, he has been leading an effort to make peace in Taban served in the capacity of bishop of Tadamata from 1980 to 1983.

On the regional scene, he was sent to Rwanda in the aftermath of the 1994 genocide for reconciliation efforts.

Rewards for Peace

Bishop Taban has received numerous awards including the Sergio Vieira de Mello Peace Prize awarded by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in 2013 for his work at the Holy Trinity Peace Village in Kuron and the Hubert Walter Award for Reconciliation and Interfaith Cooperation awarded by the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby in 2017 for co-founding the ecumenical New Sudan Council of Churches, building Kuron Peace Village, and chairing the mediation initiative between the Government of South Sudan and COBRA Faction of the South Sudan Democratic Movement/Army led by David Yau Yau, which produced a successful peace agreement on 6 January 2014.

In December 2016, Taban was appointed by President Salva Kiir Mayardit as a co-chair of the steering committee of National Dialogue.

In September 2017, Taban received the peace award of the United Religious Initiatives for Africa.

In May 2018 Taban received the Four Freedoms Award, freedom of Worship medal from the Roosevelt Foundation for his life-long and selfless dedication to the cause of bringing freedom and peace to the people of South Sudan.