Campaign launched to repair St. Joan of Arc roof, interior

By Peter Finney Jr.
Clarion Herald

With a $50,000 challenge grant, Dr. Antoine Garibaldi and his wife Carol Jupiter Garibaldi have launched a $150,000 campaign to install a new roof and make interior renovations to St. Joan of Arc Church in New Orleans, which turns 100 years old on Oct. 7.

Garibaldi, the former vice president of academic affairs at Xavier University of Louisiana and president-emeritus of the University of Detroit Mercy, was one of nine children in his family who attended St. Joan of Arc School. He also served as an altar server before going on to St. Augustine High School for one year and then spending eight years in seminary formation with the Josephites.

“The parish and the school had a tremendous impact on me,” Garibaldi said. “I went to the eighth grade at St. Augustine, partly because my pastor lobbied for me at that time, and it was my intention to go to the seminary immediately afterwards.”

Felt a vocational pull

Garibaldi, 72, did go on to the Josephite seminary in Newburgh, New York, to consider a vocation to the priesthood. It was during his seminary formation that he first met Chuck Andrus, who went on to ordination as a Josephite priest and currently serves as the pastor of Blessed Sacrament-St. Joan of Arc Parish.

Garibaldi left the Josephite seminary during his senior year and entered graduate school, leading to a 40-year career in various executive positions at Catholic universities.

He served at Xavier University from 1982-96 as chairman of the education department, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and then vice president for academic affairs.

“Those were the years, from 1982 to 1996, when Xavier’s enrollment doubled,” Garibaldi said.

He served as provost at Howard University for five years before serving as president of Gannon University, a Catholic diocesan university in Erie, Pennsylvania, from 2001-11, and then as president of the University of Mercy Detroit from 2011-22.

Garibaldi’s mother, Marie, was the first African-American recipient of the Regina Matrum Award given to outstanding Catholic mothers in the Archdiocese of New Orleans in 1969.

Garibaldi’s spiritual and family ties to New Orleans prompted him and his wife to step up to help his former church.

   “It’s family, and we will never forget the wonderful education and spiritual formation we received,” Garibaldi said. “People often ask me, ‘Are all the schools down there Catholic?’ and I tell them, ‘No, but we’ve got pride in our city and pride in our schools, whether they’re public or private.’ But I’m often reminded that my parents didn’t have many of those opportunities.”

The campaign funds are earmarked for a new church roof and also for repair of the stained-glass windows, plaster and floors in the church.

“But the critical thing right now is the roof,” Garibaldi said.

Carol Garibaldi said she hopes their family’s challenge grant will prompt others to step forward with donations.

“We really want this to spark others to give,” she said.

[email protected]