The Archdiocese of Newark and the Nigerian Community are organizing the 20th Anniversary Celebration of the Beatification of Blessed Cyprain Michael Iwene Tansi, Patron Saint of Nigeria in New Jersey, United States of America.
The event will take place on Saturday, December 1, 2018.
Mass will be said at 5.30 pm at St. Michael’s Parish, 1212 Kelly St., Union and reception will follow after Mass.
Blessed Father Tansi (1903-1964), whose Beatification was done by Pope St. John Paul 11 in March 1998 is called the Patron Saint of Nigeria’s Democracy because soon after his Beatification in1998, God miraculously delivered Nigeria from the tyrannical ruler of the military dictator, General Sani Abacha and returned the country to democracy in 1999.
Pope St. John Paul 11’s visit to Nigeria in 1998 was the second Papal visit to the country.
The government of his home state, Anambra, according to Mrs. Sally Mbanefo, the State’s Commissioner for Indigenous Art Works, Diaspora Affairs, Culture and Tourism, has put machinery in motion to make his tomb in Aguleri, where his remains were moved to from England where he was originally buried, a religious site that would eventually be developed into a major tourist attraction in the state and the country.