Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi

Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi , OCSO (September 1903 – 20 January 1964) was an Igbo Nigerian priest of the Catholic Church who worked in the Archdiocese of Onitsha and later became a Trappist monk at Mount Saint Bernard Monastery in England.

On 22 March 1998, he was beatified by Pope John Paul II. His feast day is 20 January.

Birth and historical background Tansi was born in September 1903, in an area of Nigeria under the control of the Royal Niger Company (RNC). The RNC maintained a trading outpost in Aguleri, purchasing palm oil from local farmers to sell abroad. Relations between the local population and the foreign company were often strained. Michael's father, Tabansi of Igbezunu, was once taken hostage by the Royal Niger Company and later released.

Michael was the oldest son. His name Iwene meant 'let malice not kill'. His parents were poor farmers; they were not Christian. His mother was sentenced to death by a medicine man because he decided she was responsible for the deaths of several youngsters in the village. After her death from swallowing poison, Iwene's father married again. He and his second wife had four boys and one girl.

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. Michael was baptized on 7 July 1913 with the Christian name of Michael. At the school, Michael served as an altar boy and catechist. Upon graduating, he became a teacher, and worked as such from 1919 to 1925, Later, he became headmaster at St. Joseph's school in Aguleri.

Seminarian At that time, few locals in Nigeria were becoming priests. Most of the clergy were Europeans. While Igbo could become priests, they were subject to strict discipline and were often expelled from seminary for relatively minor lapses.

Michael attended St. Paul Seminary in Igbariam from 1925 to 1937. His family criticized his entrance to the seminary, because they wanted him to go into business, as his father had planned.

Parish priest At that time in Nigeria, almost all priests were foreign missionaries. Few Africans were being ordained to the priesthood. Tansi was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Onitsha at the Cathedral Basilica of the Most Holy Trinity in Onitsha on 19 December 1937.

As Black priests became more common, some followed the lifestyle of the foreign missionaries. Monks and nuns also lived more comfortably than most Nigerians, and some people began looking at taking holy orders as a priest, monk or nun as a way to escape poverty. Father Anselm Stark, who knew Fr Cyprian, recalled: "As a person he was very ordinary, very humble, obviously a great man of deep prayer and dedication."

Cyprian was sensitive to criticism, and his novice master was hard on the new monks. This caused him much stress, and it was during this trying time that he understood that he had made some mistakes in Nigeria with the hard discipline and expectations he had placed on those under him. The English winter was also hard on him.

He was commissioned to establish a monastery not in Nigeria, but in neighboring Cameroon. Ill health changed those plans. His health deteriorated, but he accepted death with no complaint. Before he died, he went to Leicester Royal Hospital, and, when he was examined, the doctor came out of the examination and spoke with monastery priest Fr. James, saying: "Can you help me please, Father? This man must be in terrific pain, but he will only admit that he has 'a little pain.'" He died the same day, as a result of arteriosclerosis and a ruptured aneurysm. The date of his death was 20 January 1964.

He was beatified by Pope John Paul II on 22 March 1998, at Oba, Nigeria,

There is a statue of Tansi outside Most Holy Trinity Basilica in Onitsha. In 2010, Michael Cyprian Iwene Tansi was named a patron of Nigerian priests. Archbishop Valerian Okeke compared Tansi to St John Mary Vianney as a model of sanctity.

Institutions named after Blessed Cyprian Iwene Tansi Blessed Iwene Tansi Major Seminary, Onitsha Anambra State Nigeria (Provincial Seminary) Blessed Iwene Tansi Secondary School, Aguleri Blessed Iwene Tansi Parish, Umudioka Blessed Iwene Tansi Parish, Awada-Onitsha Blessed Iwene Tansi Parish, Mba Farm, Onitsha Blessed Iwene Tansi Parish, Ugwu Orji Owerri Imo State Blessed Iwene Tansi Parish, Transekulu, Enugu State Blessed Iwene Tansi Chaplaincy, Nike Grammar School, Enugu State Blessed Iwene Tansi Chaplaincy, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University (Igbariam Campus) Tansi International College Awka Tansian University, Umunya Blessed Michael Tansi Catholic Church, Aba Blessed Iwene Tansi Parish, Ijebu-Ode Ogun State Blessed Michael Tansi Parish, Awule, Akure, Ondo State Blessed Tansi Parish, Benin City, Edo State Blessed Tansi Catholic Church, Ugboroke, Uvwie, Delta State Blessed Michael Iwene Tansi Chaplaincy, Ebonyi State University (Ishieke Campus)