AMECEA: Mourns the Death of South Sudanese Bishop, Taban “A Man of Peace”

Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA

The Catholic Bishops of the Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa (AMECEA) are mourning the loss of Bishop Emeritus Paride Taban which occurred on Wednesday, November 1, the day when the Church marks All Saints Day.

On behalf of the AMECEA Bishops, the chairman Rt. Rev. Charles Sampa Kasonde of Solwezi Diocese, Zambia thanked God for giving AMECEA a faithful servant who lived the beatitudes, especially of peace, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God,” (Mt. 5:9).

According to the Chairman, Bishop Taban was a great shepherd of Torit Diocese where he was the pioneer bishop, and more especially for South Sudan where he dedicated all his life to reconciliation and restoration of peace.

The Bishop who passed on at the age of 87 years, was one of the AMECEA Peace Delegation to Burundi, when Bishops of Southern Africa Catholic Bishops Conference (SACBC) and AMECEA joined the leadership of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM), for a solidarity visit to Burundi which took place from 9 -12 June 2016, following the violence that was triggered by the presentation of the incumbent President as a candidate for the ruling party.

The AMECEA Chairman Bishop Kasonde has noted that being part of the solidarity team for peace is “a clear testimony of his (Bishop Taban’s) passion about peace.

He addressed the president of Sudan and South Sudan Episcopal Conference Bishop Yunan Tombe Trille Kuku Andali in the statement signed Friday, November 3, assuring him of togetherness with the people of South Sudan saying, “We mourn the death of this man of peace, a consoler of his people in the country, in diaspora and more importantly those in refugee camps in neighboring countries whom he frequently visited to show his solidarity.”

Emphasizing the late Bishop Taban’s passion for peace for the people of South Sudan, the Zambian Prelate disclosed the peace initiative project the late Bishop established in 2005 called the Holy Trinity Peace Village in Kuron, “to bring together people from different tribes and faiths who have been in conflict for years over cattle rustling and also to unite the population in the area and set an example of peaceful cohabitation in war-torn South Sudan.”

The Chairman stated in his message that Bishop Taban’s retirement at the age of 68, some years earlier than the normal retirement period of Prelates, “could not be understood except in the context of his passion for peace which is reflected in his involvement to establish the Peace Village.”

“Indeed, it was not a surprise to anyone seeing the excitement and joy of Bishop Taban when Pope Francis visited South Sudan to give the message of peace and reconciliation,” Bishop Kasonde writes in the statement recounting the Pope’s visit to South Sudan in the month of February 2023, under the motto “I pray that all may be one.”

Due to Bishop Taban’s dedication to peace and reconciliation, he won the 2013 Sergio Vieira de Mello Prize from the UN Peace Prize for his work at the Holy Trinity Peace Village in Kuron, in the east of South Sudan. He also received a recognition certificate from the first Vice President of Sudan General and the president of the Government of Southern Sudan Salva Kiir Mayardit in 2008, for his outstanding services to the nation and contribution towards promoting peace and development in Southern Sudan.

The late Bishop who died in Kenya’s capital while undergoing treatment will be laid to rest on Friday, November 10, at St. Peter and Paul Cathedral, Torit Diocese.

On Saturday, November 4, there will be a requiem Mass at the Sacred Heart Shrine in Nairobi, then on Tuesday, November 7, the body will be flown to South Sudan for a requiem Mass on the same day at St. Theresa Cathedral, Kator. The body will be Torit on Thursday, November 9.