About the Founders
A Passion for Mission
Fr. Michael Sweeney, OP
As the co-founder of the Lay Mission Institute, Fr. Michael’s chief interest is the mission of the Church to the “world” (secular society). This requires, he notes, an understanding of the relationships within the Church between the clergy, the laity and parish community in light of that mission, as well as formation of the laity for their task as apostles.
In 1997, along with with Sherry Weddell, he co-founded the Catherine of Siena Institute, whose purpose is to assist parishes to provide a formation for lay men and women. The Institute has addressed over 100,000 Catholics throughout the world.
Father Michael has developed and offered workshops in priestly formation, the theology of the laity, the theology of vocation, the theology of pastoral governance and Catholic social teaching. While he was the President of the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology (DSPT) at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley (2004-2015), not only did he offered classes on the role of the laity in the Church, particularly in light of the documents of Vatican II and Saint John Paul II, but he also founded the College of Fellows, comprising of lay men and women – distinguished in their secular fields – who collaborate for the sake of evangelizing the culture.
A Secular Vocation
Sean Bryan | Papal Ninja
Sean co-founded the Lay Mission Institute with Fr. Michael Seeney, OP and now serves as Executive Director. He received his Bachelor’s of Arts at UC Berkeley, where he studied physics and was on the men’s gymnastics team. After graduation, he spent four years in various Salesian ministerial settings while discerning his vocation. In 2015 Sean completed his Master of Arts in Theology with a Salesian Studies concentration at the Dominican School of Philosophy & Theology. His Masters thesis analyzed the ecclesiology inherent to documents of the Second Vatican Council, and proposes the Scriptural notion of liturgy as an interpretive lens that elucidates the relationship between formal ritual worship and its integrated expression in everyday life. His exploration led to practical applications geared toward the animation of the faithful in the Church’s mission.
Sean is also known for his participation in the NBC show American Ninja Warrior, where he has taken on the identity of the Papal Ninja, stealthily accomplishing the mission of the One who sent him on a mission to the secular realm. Sean puts into practice what he preaches in the Lay Mission Institute formation by acting in accord with Lumen Gentium’s call “to make the Church present and operative in those places and circumstances where only through them (the laity) can it become the salt of the earth…” He has been featured on over 40 episodes of as the Papal Ninja since 2016, and is an active evangelizer in the digital realm.
