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Blessed Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi (born in Aguleri, Anambra State, Nigeria in September 1903 – died in Leicester, England, 24 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.〔''Entirely for God: the life of Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi'', p. 37, Elizabeth Isichei (Cistercian Publications, 1980)〕 He was later a Cistercian Monk at Mount Saint Bernard Monastery in England.〔''God's Invisible Hand: The Life and Work of Francis Cardinal Arinze'', an Interview with Gerard O'Connell, p. 111 (Ignatius Press, 2006) ISBN 978-1-58617-135-3〕 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),〔. The Apostolate for Family Consecration. 2009.〕 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." 〔(''Homily at the Mass for the Beatification of Father Cyprian Tansi ), Pope John Paul II〕 His feast day is January 20. ==Heritage and Early Life== Before he was born, the British had come to colonize Nigeria. The British (Niger Company ) was traded in Aguleri before Michael was born, and 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 he 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, and then afterwards proceeded to attack the neighbouring villages, burning down the homes of the local people, pillaging their property as well as mistakenly destroying a nearby village of a different group that had no relation to the incident.〔''Entirely for God: the life of Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi'', Elizabeth Isichei (Cistercian Publications, 1980)〕 Michael's father was Tabansi of Igbezunu, Aguleri. He was one of the people taken hostage by the Royal Niger Company, and later released. Later he named his firstborn son 'Iwe-egbune' shortened to Iwene, meaning 'let malice not kill'; which was the birth-name of Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi. His father was a pagan, but not a polygamist, and he married twice, the second wife after the first one died. Michael was his first born, and he had another son with his first wife. His second wife gave him four boys and one girl.〔 His parents were poor farmers. When he was a young child, he became permanently blinded in one of his eyes as a result of a mud-fight with other children. His father sent Iwene to a Catholic mission school, with the intention of getting his son to receive a better education that would help lead their family out of poverty and would never again be taken advantage of by the westerners. Michael automatically became a Catholic by being enrolled and taught at the school, and he was baptized in 1913 with the Christian name of Michael.〔 Upon graduating, he became a teacher, and worked as a teacher from 1919-1925. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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