Ivory Coast, Africa
About the Location
Once known for its ivory trade, Ivory Coast also carries the painful legacy of the transatlantic slave trade, where many were captured and sold into slavery, often by their own neighbors. This history continues to shape the collective memory of Africa.
Pope John Paul II first consecrated Ivory Coast to the Virgin Mary in 1980. He reaffirmed this at the consecration of the Basilica of Our Lady of Peace in Yamoussoukro in 1990. The site of Comunità Regina della Pace’s Eucharistic monstrance, the basilica is one of the largest Catholic churches in the world accommodating 18,000 worshipers.
About the Altar
At the heart of this adoration altar is a life-size engraving of the Shroud of Turin in crystal-known as the "Fifth Gospel"—revealing the image of Christ through refracted light.
Pope John Paul II called the Shroud “a silent but surprisingly eloquent witness” to Christ’s Passion, Death, and Resurrection. Our Lady, shown wearing a fragment of the Shroud, shares in His suffering, echoing the Pietà. She gestures toward the Eucharist, inviting us to encounter the Risen Lord—the Prince of Peace.
The altar is adorned with precious stones: jasper for the tribes of Judah, rubies and zircons as rays from the Eucharist symbolizing the graces of Christ’s divine mercy.
