The statue of Our Lady of Africa was originally modeled on a French sculpture entitled
Virgo Fidelis ("Faithful Virgin") a copy of an earlier work completed in 1838 by
Edmé Bouchardon. The copy was gifted to the Ladies of the Sacred Heart in
Paris. A later derivation was ordered by
Antoine-Adolphe Dupuch, the first
Bishop of Algiers, in 1840, and it continued to pass hands in the next few years until ending up with a group of
Trappist monks in
Staouéli. The Ladies of the Sacred Heart in
Lyons, his home diocese, proposed that he make use of the
Virgo Fidelis that their fellow sisters had possessed. He agreed, though changing to Our Lady Africa after consulting with his advisors. It was installed in a small chapel in 1857. The church,
Notre-Dame d'Afrique, designed by
Jean-Eugène Fromageau, was completed nextdoor by Bishop
Charles Lavigerie, M.Afr., Pavy's successor in Algiers. The statue was moved there the same year. Lavigerie established an order of nuns under the patronage of Our Lady of Africa in 1869, the
Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa, closely associated with Lavigerie's own order of priests and brothers, the
White Fathers (also known as the Missionaries of Africa). They work among various African peoples providing education and religious instruction. The statue of Our Lady of Africa received a
canonical coronation from
Pope Pius IX in 1876, in the same ceremony wherein the church was elevated to the status of a
minor basilica. A blue gown was added to the statue in 1886. == Devotion ==