Category: Education

University of Juba on Saturday bestowed an Honorary Degree on late bishop Paride Taban in acknowledgement and appreciation of his service as a peace ambassador and his contribution to South Sudan.

This was at the graduation ceremony of 4,500 students at Dr. John Garang Mausoleum on Saturday, December 2, 2023.

“We have today bestowed an Honorary Degree on His Lordship the late Emeritus Parade Taban as a token of appreciation and acknowledgement for his service as a peace ambassador and his contributions to peace and reconciliation in the Republic of South Sudan,” the university said in a statement.

It is the second award conferred to him just one month from his death, after he was named the 2023 Opus Prize Laureate for his peacebuilding efforts, by a United States university on November 10.

Late Bishop Paride Taban passed away on November 1, 2023, and was laid to rest at the St Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Torit, Eastern Equatoria State, a week later.

Born in 1936, Bishop Taban grew up in the midst of wars and bitter suffering in Sudan and dedicated his life to mediating peace between different political and ethnic groups.

Having been ordained on 24 May 1964 and consecrated as a Bishop on 4 May 1980 in Kinshasa, DR Congo by Pope John Paul II, the clergyman served as Bishop in Juba, Torit, and Tadamata from 1980-1983.

He was also sent to Rwanda by the Pope in the aftermath of the 1994 genocide for reconciliation efforts.

Bishop Taban received numerous awards including the Sergio Vieira de Mello Peace Prize from UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in 2013 for his work at the Holy Trinity Peace Village in Kuron.

He also received the Hubert Walter Award for Reconciliation and Interfaith Cooperation from the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby in 2017 for co-founding the ecumenical New Sudan Council of Churches.

Bishop Taban received the Freedom of Worship Award on May 16, 2018, for his extraordinary efforts toward bringing peace to war-torn South Sudan.

The Four Freedoms Award is one of the most prestigious awards recognising work defending fundamental human rights. Earlier recipients include Nelson Mandela, Bishop Desmond Tutu, Malala Yousafzai and Angela Merkel.

He was also recognized for building Kuron Peace Village and chairing the mediation initiative between the South Sudan government and the COBRA Faction of the South Sudan Democratic Movement/Army led by David Yau Yau, which produced a successful peace agreement on 6 January 2014.