Shrines around the World: Our Lady of Africa, Algeria
Our Lady of Africa Shrine in Algeria . Photo: Kie1193/Creative Commons
Where’s that: Algiers, the capital of mainly Muslim Algeria.
Our Lady’s connection: A statue of Mary as a black woman.
Our Lady of Africa calls us to pray for Africa, for her protection, and for peace between Christians and Muslims.
The devotion goes back to a bronze statue (right) that was modelled on a French sculpture entitled Virgo Fidelis (“Faithful Virgin”) and ordered by Mgr Antoine-Adolphe Dupuch, the first bishop of Algiers, in 1840. The statue eventually found a home in Algiers’ new basilica of Notre-Dame d’Afrique when it was inaugurated in 1872 by Archbishop (later Cardinal) Charles Lavigerie, founder the Society of Missionaries of Africa, who are also active in South Africa.
The statue of Our Lady of Africa received a canonical coronation from Pope Pius IX in 1876, and a blue cloak in 1886.
In art, the sculpture is represented as a Virgin with black skin and African features. The French missionaries dedicated the whole African continent to the patronage of Our Lady of Africa. Her feast is celebrated on April 30.
The basilica overlooks the Bay of Algiers from a 124m-high cliff. Bombing in World War II blew out its 46 stained glass windows, and an earthquake in 2003 did great damage to the building which was not repaired until 2010.
A French inscription on the apse reads: “Our Lady of Africa, pray for us and for the Muslims.”
Published in the April 2025 issue of The Southern Cross
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