By Gladys Fred Kole
President Salva Kiir Mayardit conveys condolence to Catholic Diocese of Torit and the faithful worldwide over the death of Emeritus Bishop Paride Taban.
Emeritus Bishop Paride died on Monday at the age of 87, in Nairobi, Kenya, where he had been taken for treatment.
In a condolence message, President Kiir said Bishop Paride’s long service to the church demonstrated tremendous courage in bearing witness to Christ.
“In difficult times he went through the war of liberation, he never abandoned his flock and stood up for the persecuted and gave the voice to the voiceless both in his teachings and actions,” Kiir said.
He said Bishop Paride has left a long-lasting legacy that young people can emulate.
Biography
Bishop Paride Taban was born in 1936 in Opari, Magwi County of Eastern Equatoria state.
He was the first leader of the Sudan Council of Churches, founded in February 1990 and served as an Auxiliary Bishop of Juba on 28 Jan 1980 to 2 July 1983 and served as Bishop of Torit from 1983 to 2004.
Taban was the first bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Torit in what was then Sudan from 1983 until 2004.
In 1989, when the then-rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) overtook Torit, he was arrested along with three other Catholic priests Until 1990.
According to historical facts, Paride 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 Catholic Diocese of Torit, Taban was auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Juba and the titular bishop of Tadamata from 1980 to 1983.
He was ordained on May 24, 1964, and consecrated a Bishop on May 4, 1980, in Kinsasha by Pope John Paul II.
Taban was sent to Rwanda in the aftermath of the 1994 genocide for reconciliation efforts where his contribution also yielded fruits.