Deacon Sean Dodd didn’t feel fully prepared when he started college in 2015, he said.
“I basically spent two years doing traditional undergrad work only for me to feel like I was swimming against the current,” he added. “I didn’t do very well.”
Dodd of Scranton, Pennsylvania, started his undergraduate degree in missions (missionary praxis and theology) at Southern Nazarene University in Oklahoma City in 2015. While he did not complete this degree, Dodd eventually earned his associate’s degree in general studies from Tyler Junior College in 2019.
Dodd desired to continue his degree at a Catholic university. He eventually landed in one of Newman’s online programs.
“I was around 10 credits from graduating and needed to finish what I started,” he said. “I reached out to my advisor from Newman (Director of Adult and Professional Studies Teresa Wilkerson) and she said, ‘Oh my goodness, you won’t believe it. We have this new adult and professional studies program that’s very affordable. It was perfect for me.”
The Newman adult and professional studies program meets students where they are. It is ideal for students who want to expand career opportunities, increase their earning potential, strengthen job competitiveness, change professions or prepare for graduate education. There is no minimum credit hour enrollment requirement plus flexible year-round scheduling, making it more affordable and manageable for adult students with multiple priorities to juggle.
“Professor Wilkerson is very infectious and I have nothing but positive things to say about her,” Dodd said. “From our conversations, she has a real sense of Christian faith and spirituality and that was something I really needed at that time in my life. I needed to get this bachelor’s degree finished and not only was Newman there for me and accessible, but through her, it was a very cathartic spiritual experience.”
Dodd, who is a seminarian at Savonarola Theological Seminary and expects to graduate from Newman in December 2025, said he has felt “truly cared for” in every chapter of his Newman journey. His professors (including Wilkerson) have also helped tailor his program and classes around the end goal of his vocational calling.
A convert and future priest
Dodd was raised an Evangelical Christian in Tyler, Texas, but is now a transitional deacon in the Polish National Catholic Church.
While there are similarities, there are also practical and liturgical differences between the Polish National Catholic Church and Roman Catholic Church, such as differences in opinions of the first Vatican Council, papal infallibility, lay involvement and married priesthood. In the U.S. and Canada, the Polish National Catholic Church has approximately 30,000 members, while the Roman Catholic Church has 62.8 million members. Even with these differences, however, most English-speaking Masses in the U.S. allow Polish National Catholics to receive the Eucharist, he said.
As a student at his Evangelical university, Dodd “studied his way in” to Catholicism. He attended Mass every day and was awe-struck by the transubstantiation — the transformation of bread and wine into the true presence of Jesus Christ’s body, blood, soul and divinity.
“I didn’t even need to receive, I was just content to be in the presence,” Dodd said. “I discerned into a more Catholic way of viewing the world and decided to make a change because of my love for the Mass.”
He wasn’t convinced of the need for priests until later on in his faith growth journey. But once he made that realization and looked at his own church’s lack of priesthood, he thought, “This is a problem.”
“I wanted to be a missionary and still do,” he said. “I developed this great love of Jesus Christ in the sacrament and I couldn’t bear the idea of not being able to share that love with people.”
I developed this great love of Jesus Christ in the sacrament and I couldn’t bear the idea of not being able to share that love with people.
Deacon Sean Dodd
He converted from Evangelicalism to Polish National Catholicism in 2019. Dodd describes his ordination as a transitional deacon in March 2024 as a “pretty intense” experience. Dodd laid prostrate on the floor before the altar as the “Litany of the Saints” was sung by the congregation.
“In that moment, I was aware of the fact that I’m becoming a sacrifice,” Dodd said. “Even if God doesn’t call me to give up my life, he is calling me to a life that is defined by sacrifice. It was like I was becoming a completely new person.”
Becoming a priest
Dodd’s priestly ordination will take place in spring 2025. He looks forward to hearing the church affirm his vocation as a priest and serving others in mission work.
“There’s a sense in which not being able to do that is like not being able to breathe,” he added, “It’s something that cannot be put into words. It’s equal parts joyful and absolutely terrifying.”
He is grateful for his family’s support in his faith and vocational discernment throughout the years since his conversion.
“I’d like to thank my mother, my grandmother, all of the people who were present in my life and church growing up who impressed upon me the need to be a Christian,” Dodd said. “All the people who’ve been there for me along the way, including people like Professor Wilerson, and more than anyone else, Jesus Christ.”
A love for language
Dodd’s had an interest in language study since he was a child.
“I’ve been studying Japanese for 12 years and just got back from my third time visiting, establishing a sort of a missionary through networking there,” he said.
In addition to speaking fluently in English and Japanese, Dodd has also studied French, Spanish, biblical Greek and Hebrew. He can read Cyrillic, the Russian alphabet, understands a good amount of written Chinese and continues to study language for fun — a skill that will have positive ripple effects as a future priest.
“I can’t be fluent in every language in the world, but what I can do is I can use it as an opportunity to connect with and speak to a person’s heart,” Dodd said. “You want a person to feel like you’re trying and that you care, and that’s what learning a language does. It destroys the barriers between you and breaks the walls down.”
Language learning is an extension of Dodd’s desire to see and understand people and unfamiliar places, all while ministering to the Lord’s will.
“I’m excited to share that great love of Jesus in all the ways that I possibly can,” he said.
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Whether you want to expand your career opportunities, increase your earning potential, strengthen your job competitiveness, change professions, or prepare for graduate education, this program will help you meet your academic, professional and personal goals.
