Retired Sudanese bishop works to build peace village in Sudan

Published: 2007-11-06

SAN FRANCISCO (CNS) -- Retired Sudanese Bishop Paribe Taban of Torit grew up in a peaceful community in the south of Sudan. Three years ago, he retired early to work full time to build such a village from scratch in a nation ruined by war over much of his adulthood. He called his dream the Holy Trinity Peace Village. "The peace village is like a light for the people to see we are all one family of God," Bishop Taban said during a recent visit to San Francisco, where he was the guest of honor during a fundraising event hosted by La Madre de los Pobres, a charity established in 1982 by the late Franciscan Father Alfred Boeddeker. "We need to find a village where people can meet as brothers and sisters, a community of love and reconciliation," the bishop said. Sudan has suffered from internal fighting over religious, political and economic differences. The nation has been damaged in the aftermath of the last civil war, which ended after 22 years in 2005.

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