Cyprian Edwin Berens

Franciscan Fr. Cyprian Berens, OFM, whose ministry led him from parishes in the U.S. to the friars' headquarters in Rome, died May 13 at St. Paul's Archbishop Leibold Home for the Aged. A friar for 76 years, he was 95 years old.

Born Jan. 26, 1924, in Cincinnati, Fr. Berens was the son of the late Edwin and Eleanor (Koch) Berens. He attended high school at Purcell, Roger Bacon and St. Francis Seminary and continued his education at Duns Scotus College in Southfield, Mich. After ordination in 1951, Fr. Berens was assistant pastor at parishes in Bloomington, Streator and Peoria, Ill. In 1957 he was called to Rome as assistant treasurer and secretary at the friars' General Curia.

Returning to the States in 1960, he then served as novice master at St. Anthony in Mt. Airy, and worked with brothers in formation at Duns Scotus. Again assigned to Rome, he was general treasurer at the Curia from 1963-1967.

From there Fr. Berens was director of the printery at St. Bonaventure College in Florence, Italy, treasurer and teacher at St. Leonard College in Dayton, Ohio, and director of communications for St. John the Baptist Province in Cincinnati. He returned to Rome once more in 1986 as a confessor for the Basilica of St. John Lateran. His last parish assignment, as pastor of St. Paul the Apostle Parish, took him to Michigan's Upper Peninsula from 1992-2001. He moved to Leibold Home in 2003, serving the community as chaplain until he retired in 2012.
Fr. Berens was preceded in death by his parents, his sister, Mary Ellen, and his brothers James and Greg. He is survived by several cousins and many nieces and nephews. His body will be received at 10 a.m. Friday, May 17, in the chapel at Leibold Home. Following a Mass of Christian Burial at 11 a.m., Fr. Berens will be laid to rest at St. Mary Cemetery in St. Bernard. Memorials may be sent to the Franciscans c/o Friar Works, 1615 Vine St., Cincinnati, OH 45202.