“My motto when I became a catholic priest on 24th May 1964 was ‘Help your brothers and sisters in their difficulties,’ My motto as bishop is ‘God is Love’”, he wrote, adding, “The third is the command of Jesus to His disciples – Mk 16:15, Go into the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation.”
The South Sudanese Prelate retired from the administration of Torit Diocese in 2004 and proceeded to complete the establishment of the Holy Trinity Peace Village in Kuron, an initiative he had founded in 2000.
According to the information that is provided on the website of the Peace Village, Bishop Paride established the project in Kuron “to unite the population in the area and set an example of peaceful cohabitation in war-torn South Sudan,”
Kuron Peace Village is situated in Eastern Equatoria State, the Southeastern part of South Sudan that borders Kenya and Uganda. Here, different ethnic groups live and work together in the village.
“I have been dreaming of a community where people with different ethnicities and different religious backgrounds can live side by side with confidence, in harmony and fellowship,” the Bishop wrote, expressing satisfaction of completion of the construction of the project.
Bishop Paride has received awards for his work at the Holy Trinity Peace Village in Kuron, including the Sergio Vieira de Mello Peace Prize awarded by former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
Bishop Paride who was the first leader of the New Sudan Council of Churches (NSCC) also won the Hubert Walter Award for Reconciliation and Interfaith Cooperation given by the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby for co-founding the ecumenical body, building Kuron Peace Village and chairing the mediation initiative between the Government of South Sudan and COBRA Faction of the South Sudan Democratic Movement/Army.
He has been hailed for promoting a healthy lifestyle through participating in exercises anchored on peacebuilding.
On his anniversary, he has called for prayers writing, “My dear friends, Jesus called us as friends. I have chosen this year, on 4th May 2020 you celebrate with me my eighty forth birthday, seventy year of baptism, fifty sixth year of priesthood and forty years as bishop, wherever you are to thank God with me for His greatest Love.”
Likening his calling to the Biblical Moses who relied on others to execute his God-given mission, the Bishop said, “I look at this God’s gift to me, as He gave Moses to lead His people to the Holy Land. Moses could not do it alone but with the help of Aaron and Joshua. Jesus could continue to carry God’s salvation to all creatures, through his disciple and all those He has chosen including you and me.”
