Paride Taban (born 1936 in Opari,

Eastern Equatoria Eastern Equatoria is a state in South Sudan. It has an area of 73,472 km². The capital is Torit. On October 1, 1972, the state was divided into Imatong and Namorunyang states and was re-established by a peace agreement signed on 22 Febru ...

) is a

South Sudan South Sudan (; din, Paguot Thudän), officially the Republic of South Sudan ( din, Paankɔc Cuëny Thudän), is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia, Sudan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the C ...

ese Emeritus Bishop of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and was the first leader of the

New Sudan Council of Churches New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

, which was founded in February 1990. he was auxiliary Bishop of Juba 28 Jan 1980 to 2 July 1983 and served as bishop of

Torit Torit is a city of Eastern Equatoria State in South Sudan. History On 18 August 1955, the Equatoria Corps mutinied at Torit, starting the First Sudanese Civil War. In 1964 the military government in Khartoum closed "all the Christian mission ...

from 1983 to 2004.

Biography

Taban was the first bishop of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Torit The Roman Catholic Diocese of Torit ( la, Toriten(sis)) is a diocese located in Torit in the Ecclesiastical province of Juba in South Sudan. History The Diocese of Torit is a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Juba. It was detached from Ju ...

in what was then

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

from 1983 until 2004. In 1989, when the rebel

Sudan People's Liberation Army The South Sudan People's Defence Forces (SSPDF), formerly the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), is the army of the South Sudan, Republic of South Sudan. The SPLA was founded as a guerrilla movement against the government of Sudan in 198 ...

(SPLA) overtook Torit, he was arrested with three other Catholic priests by the SPLA. Until 1990 he and Nathanael Garang were the only two Bishops active in areas held by the SPLA. Since his retirement from the diocese, he has been leading an effort to make peace in South Sudan real by setting up the Kuron Peace Village, established in 2005. Before becoming bishop of

, Taban was auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Juba and the titular bishop of

Tadamata Tadamata (or Tadama) was a town in the Roman province of Mauretania Caesariensis. It was also the seat of a bishopric that, no longer being a residential see, is included in the Catholic Church's list of titular sees. Its bishop David is mentioned ...

from 1980 to 1983. He was ordained May 24, 1964 and consecrated a Bishop May 4, 1980 in

Kinshasa Kinshasa (; ; ln, Kinsásá), formerly Léopoldville ( nl, Leopoldstad), is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Once a site of fishing and trading villages situated along the Congo River, Kinshasa is now one o ...

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

. Taban was sent to

Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...

in the aftermath of the 1994 genocide for reconciliation efforts. Bishop Paride has received numerous awards including the

Sergio Vieira de Mello Sergio may refer to: * Sergio (given name), for people with the given name Sergio * Sergio (carbonado), the largest rough diamond ever found * ''Sergio'' (album), a 1994 album by Sergio Blass * ''Sergio'' (2009 film), a documentary film * ''Se ...

Peace Prize awarded by UN Secretary General

Ban Ki-moon Ban Ki-moon (; ; born 13 June 1944) is a South Korean politician and diplomat who served as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations between 2007 and 2016. Prior to his appointment as secretary-general, Ban was his country's Minister ...

in 2013 for his work at the Holy Trinity Peace Village in Kuron UN Statement for Sergio DeMello Peace Prize
/ref> and the Hubert Walter Award for Reconciliation and Interfaith Cooperation awarded by the Archbishop of Canterbury

Justin Welby Justin Portal Welby (born 6 January 1956) is a British bishop who is the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury. He has served in that role since 2013. Welby was previously the vicar of Southam, Warwickshire, and then Bishop of Durham, serving for jus ...

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 David Yau Yau was a Governor of Boma State and the Chief Administrator of the Greater Pibor Administrative Area of South Sudan. He was previously the leader of a Murle insurrection against the South Sudanese government. Early life and education ...

, which produced a successful peace agreement on 6 January 2014. In December 2016, Taban was appointed by the President

Salva Kiir Mayardit Salva Kiir Mayardit (born 13 September 1951), also known as Salva Kiir, is a South Sudanese politician who has been the President of South Sudan since its independence on 9 July 2011. Prior to independence, he was the President of the Governmen ...

as a co-chair of the steering committee of National Dialogue. Taban has witnessed the suffering of South Sudanese since he was young and he was not happy to see south South Sudanese suffering in the hands of their fellow southerners

AWARDS

In September 2017, Taban received the peace award of the

United Religious Initiatives for Africa United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

. 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'' https://www.fourfreedoms.nl/en/laureaten/year:2018/award:freedom-of-worship-award/laureates:paride-taban.htm

References

External links

Kuron Peace Village page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taban, Paride 1936 births Living people 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in South Sudan 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Sudan People from Eastern Equatoria Nonviolence advocates 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in South Sudan South Sudanese Roman Catholic bishops Roman Catholic bishops of Juba Roman Catholic bishops of Torit