Peace leads Sudanese bishop to resign to start 'peace village'

Published: 2004-02-10

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Bishop Paride Taban of Torit, deep in Sudan's war-torn South, has taken recent peace agreements as a sign it is time for him to step down. Pope John Paul II accepted the 68-year-old bishop's resignation Feb. 7, although Bishop Taban is still years away from the normal retirement age of 75. But the bishop said he had been waiting almost 15 years for the right moment "to turn over my responsibilities as a bishop to a younger person." In response to questions, the bishop e-mailed a copy of the Feb. 8 letter he wrote to the people of the Diocese of Torit explaining his retirement and his plans. "I am hoping in the near future to begin a simple village that will bring together different tribes that will live together in harmony and be the 'flame of peace' in Sudan," he wrote. "God has put within me a desire to be part of a small 'peace village,' living in a very simple lifestyle wherever I may be stationed," said the bishop, who was ordained to the priesthood in 1964 and named the first bishop of Torit in 1983.

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