In memoriam
Bishop Paride Taban
24 mei 1936 – 1 November 2023
“Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Compassion, Sympathy, Kindness, Truthfulness, Gentleness, Self-control, Humility, Poverty, Forgiveness, Mercy, Friendship, Trust, Unity, Purity, Faith and Hope, I Love you, I Miss you, I Thank you, I Forgive, we Forget, Together, I am Wrong, I am Sorry. Understanding, Discern, Wisdom”
Wise words of Bishop Paride Taban to make people co-exist
Bishop Paride Taban passed away on All Saints’s Day at the age of 87. Bishop Taban worked tirelessly for peace, justice and freedom in what was then Sudan and later became South Sudan. In this country torn by civil wars, he has been invaluable to the hope for peace. He positively influenced the lives of countless people in South Sudan and beyond. PAX and Bishop Taban were closely associated for over 30 years.
Since the 1960s, Bishop Taban was committed to peace dialogue and a better life for citizens in South Sudan and the border areas of Kenya and Uganda. He was deeply involved in different peace agreements between armed groups and between the government of South Sudan and warring groups. He was not afraid to sharply address warlords and political leaders about their unethical and violent behavior. Several times his great moral authority forced warlords to decide to lay down their arms and negotiate for peace.
Bisschop Taban was a practical man and also shaped peace in a very practical way. He founded Kuron Peace Village in the border province of Eastern Equatoria South Sudan to bring different ethnic communities to live and work peacefully together. The peace village is a beacon of hope, love and peace in troubled South Sudan. Communities that were previously in conflict are now working together and gaining new experiences in agriculture, education and health care. In Kuron, people also learn to do peace work themselves. This includes organizing dialogue between citizens, conflict transformation and traditional conflict resolution, promoting awareness through sports and theater and improving local governance. Although Bishop Taban officially retired in 2004, he remained tirelessly active in promoting peace and reconciliation at different levels.
As a sign of appreciation for his lifelong efforts, he received the prestigious Four Freedoms Award from the Roosevelt Foundation in 2018:
We at PAX are deeply saddened by his death, unfortunately at a time when there is great need for peacemakers like him. But we are also deeply grateful for what he has meant to us. He will remain an everlasting source of peace, hope and love.