Biography:
Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi (September 1903 – 20 January 1964) was an Igbo Nigerian ordained a Roman Catholic priest of the Archdiocese of Onitsha, Nigeria on 19 December 1937. He worked in the parishes of Nnewi, Dunukofia, Akpu/Ajalli and Aguleri.
He was later a Trappist Monk at Mount Saint Bernard Monastery in England.[2] After being recommended by Cardinal Francis Arinze, who was inspired by Tansi as a boy (he had been one of Tansi’s students and knew him personally),[3] he was beatified by Pope John Paul II on 22 March 1998, who said, “Blessed Cyprian Michael Tansi is a prime example of the fruits of holiness which have grown and matured in the Church in Nigeria since the Gospel was first preached in this land. He received the gift of faith through the efforts of the missionaries, and, taking the Christian way of life as his own, he made it truly African and Nigerian
Born: September 1903; Aguleri, Southern Nigeria.
Died: 20 January 1964 (aged 60); Leicester, England…
Venerated in: Roman Catholic Church
Heritage and early life:
The British had colonized Nigeria before he was born. The British Royal Niger Company traded in Aguleri, buying palm oil from the local people to sell abroad. An incident happened when a local person named Onwurume wanted to take a little palm oil to put on his roasted yam (yam is the staple food of Igbo people, and palm oil to yams is the cultural equivalent of butter to bread) and decided to puncture a barrel of palm oil to get some. When the hole he made caused the entire barrel to be emptied out, he ran away, but was grabbed by employees of the company and put into custody. When the local people heard about it, they gathered together to negotiate with the company agents, but the company called for military reinforcements and arrested the twelve chiefs who came to negotiate. Afterwards, they proceeded to attack the neighbouring villages, burning down the homes of the local people and pillaging their property, as well as mistakenly destroying a nearby village of a different group that had no relation to the incident.[5]
Michael’s father was Tabansi of Igbezunu, Aguleri. He was one of the people taken hostage by the Royal Niger Company and later released. Michael was his first born, and he had another son with his first wife. Later he named his firstborn son ‘Iwe-egbune’, shortened to Iwene, meaning ‘let malice not kill’; this was the birth-name of Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi. His parents were poor farmers; they were not Christian. After the death of his first wife, Iwene’s father married again. He and his second wife had four boys and one girl.[5]
When Iwene was a young child, he became permanently blinded in one eye as a result of a mud-fight with other children.[6]
His father sent Iwene to Holy Trinity School in Onitsha, which was run by the Holy Ghost Fathers. Tabansi meant for his son to get a better education that would help lead their family out of poverty, so that they would never again be taken advantage of by the westerners. Michael was baptized on July 7, 1913 with the Christian name of Michael. At the school, Michael served as an altar boy and catechist.[7] Upon graduating, he became a teacher, and worked as a teacher from 1919-1925,[8] Later, he became headmaster at St. Joseph’s school in Aguleri.
His life as a:
Related Links:
Leicester group:
http://www.accl.org.uk
Marian mission websites:
http://www.marianmission.org
http://www.marianretreat.org