Our Lady of Africa 2
Algiers, Algeria (1838)
In 1838, after the French conquest of Algiers, the Catholic Church established a diocese there for the first time after centuries of Islamic rule.
In 1840, when the new bishop of Algiers was passing through Lyons, France, the sodality of the Children of Mary there gave him a bronze statue of the Virgin with outstretched hands – a dark-complexioned version of the image on the recently popular Miraculous Medal.
The statue stayed at the monastery outside Algiers until 1857, when the bishop built a hilltop chapel for it in the city.
In July 1872 the new Cathedral of Algiers was dedicated, and the following May the statue of Our Lady of Africa was installed there. Pope Pius IX approved the bishop's coronation of the statue on April 30, 1876.
Text and image used with permission.
Source: "365 Days with Mary" by Michael O'Neill
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