By Kayla Latendresse, Correspondent
Meeting volunteers and pilgrims from around the world and even getting a smile and nod from Pope Leo XIV were just some of the highlights two sisters in the Diocese of Trenton will always cherish from their time as Jubilee 2025 volunteers.
As part of a program coordinated by the Jubilee’s Organizational Secretariat, Dina Galeotafiore and Donna Squillaro were among 5,000 volunteers who welcomed more than 33 million pilgrims to Rome for the Holy Year. Both women served in Rome from Nov. 1 to 8. Donna also had volunteered in the same program this past spring.
Their responsibilities ranged from welcoming and guiding groups of faithful along access routes for the papal basilicas and accompanying pilgrims in prayer through the Holy Doors; assisting with security and crowd flow; offering directions and information on the available services, and helping guide groups during papal audiences, Masses and special events.
Special memories
Dina recalled working at the Nov. 3 Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, where Pope Leo remembered Pope Francis, cardinals and bishops who died in 2025. She was assigned to the area just inside the main basilica doors.
“I was able to stare fully at the Pieta for moments at a time and take in the beauty and marvel this statue projected,” she said. She understood better why so many visitors she met during the week were eager to view this statue.
While both sisters were assigned one of several security checkpoints for the papal general audience Nov. 5, they were able to leave to see Pope Leo pass through St. Peter’s Square in his popemobile.
“People were calling to him. The roar of the crowd would escalate when he neared. It reminded me of the teachings of Jesus preaching to the crowds. It was exciting and joyful,” Donna said.
Later, while seeing Pope Leo head slowly toward the Swiss Guards, Donna said, “I gave him a shout out and he turned toward me, I believe, recognizing I was an American, and gave me a huge smile and nod.”
An extension of faith
For both sisters, the volunteer experience opened another dimension of the Catholic faith they have shared throughout their personal and parish lives.
Donna has been a member of Holy Innocents Parish, Neptune, since 2001. She has taught parish religious education, served as a Eucharistic minister and worked with the St. Vincent DePaul Society. Married to her husband Anthony for almost 40 years, she is a mother of three grown children and grandmother to five grandchildren. Recently retired as a culinary arts instructor, she continues her ministry by cooking for families in need.
As a member of St. Dominic Parish, Brick, since 1988, Dina has served as a Eucharistic minister for more than 20 years and as an active member of the Myriam Ministry, a women’s group who work to develop parish life and help those in need. She also has served as an adult coordinator of the parish’s youth ministry and she currently teaches sixth grade religious education in St. Francis of Assisi Parish, Long Beach Island.
Dina recently celebrated 40 years of marriage with her husband Michael, and they are proud parents to four grown children, (who attended St. Dominic School), and four grandchildren. Since retiring as a human resources professional in 2023, she has dedicated much time to faith-based activities and helping to care for her grandchildren.
“My Catholic faith is the most wonderful gift bestowed on me by my parents,” Dina said. “It has always been the anchor in my life.”
To volunteer for the Jubilee, they had to apply through the Vatican and pay their own transportation to Rome. The Vatican provided meals and lodging.
Living in dormitory-style volunteer housing, they met fellow volunteers from around the world, whom they now consider friends, including their roommate from Malaysia.
“She was a delight, and we enjoyed getting to know her,” said Dina.
Donna met students and teachers from Germany and Spain, health care workers from England, the Philippines, and southern United States, engineers, postal workers, former bankers, and members of security details for former popes.
They were able to bond over their shared belief in Christ, she said.
The sisters quickly learned who spoke what language. “It was very helpful when we were working and approached by a pilgrim who didn’t speak English,” said Dina. The English-speaking volunteers would signal a colleague who could help with the language being spoken.
Feeling renewed
The two women were profoundly impacted by their interaction with the pilgrims.
“You could see on the faces of the pilgrims what this experience meant to them. My faith was renewed through witnessing this,” said Dina.
On a daily basis, the pair encountered thousands of pilgrims from all walks of life and locations around the world. They met religious men and women, clergy and families and individuals with disabilities. Dina particularly recalled meeting newlyweds who came to participate in the Jubilee.
The gift of this journey continues for the sisters. Donna returned to Rome for the closing of the Holy Door in St. Peter’s Basilica and was invited to a private “thank you” audience led by Pope Leo XIV Jan. 10. Donna also found herself at the same Epiphany Mass concelebrated by Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., during the Diocese’s current pilgrimage. Dina planned to connect with events online.
But the impact will last far beyond the close of the Holy Year. To them, the Jubilee offers hope for what is to come.
“Pope Francis proposed that this Jubilee offer us an opportunity to recover the joy of living and restore in us a real belief that we are not alone in our struggles,” expressed Dina.
“My Catholic faith has been spirited by the Jubilee Year,” Donna added. “Learning about what it represents – the renewal of hope and faith – has strengthened my love for God and my Catholic beliefs.”