Father Thomas Oddo, Ph.D.

Thomas Charles Oddo, prominent Catholic educator and early Dignity USA leader, was born on June 12, 1944 to Dominick and Catherine Oddo. Dominick served in the US Army medical corps in Europe while infant Tom lived with his mother on Long Island, New York. Tom was gregarious as a child, moving around easily in social circles. Tom was educated in Catholic schools, attending Holy Cross High School. His best friend there was his first cousin, Ed Oddo. Tom was active in photography, swimming, theatre and the school radio station. His long-time desire to be a priest was confirmed by his interactions with the Holy Cross Brothers, an educational order.

Tom enrolled in the University of Notre Dame in the fall of 1961. While he began studying mathematics, he soon switched to philosophy. Tom continued to swim regularly, although not on a competitive level. He was recognized as a leader by his peers, elected president of the Notre Dame Hall President’s Council in May 1964. During his senior year he served on the student senate. A retreat at Moreau Seminary led Tom to decide to formally pursue the priesthood. During his last term (spring 1965) he was one of 25 seniors to receive the newly-inaugurated President’s Medallion.

He spent his novitiate year at Sacred Heart Novitiate in Jordan, Minnesota. This was a time of intense prayer and contemplation on religious life. He lived a largely cloistered existence, with much of the time spent in silence. After the novitiate year, Tom enrolled in a masters of professional theology program at Notre Dame which included study at Holy Cross College, a seminary in Washington, D.C. Tom was ordained at Sacred Heart Church in April 1970. Following the master’s program, he began working on a Ph.D. at Harvard Divinity School.

During these years Tom became aware of Dignity—a ministry with LGBTQ Catholics--which had been founded in 1969. Tom spoke out on behalf of gay and lesbian persons, initially identified as an ally. In fall of 1972, Tom gave a homily at the Newman Catholic Center in Amherst, Massachusetts. Paul Diederich was present and was moved by Tom’s words. He arranged to meet Tom later and they decided to start Dignity/Boston. They also began a personal relationship which was not publicly acknowledged. In the spring of 1973, Tom was the chaplain of Dignity/Boston and Paul was the president. In his role, Tom publicly advocated for anti-discrimination legislation and equal rights for sexual minorities. Dignity held its first national convention in Los Angeles, in August 1973. Paul was elected president and Tom elected national secretary. They opened a Dignity national office in Boston. Tom worked on communications, chapter development and member outreach. Tom became the public voice of Dignity, writing and speaking out for more open and just policies and practices with LGBTQ persons in the Catholic Church.

Tom was a participant and speaker at the historic “The Gay Christian” conference at the Bergamo Center in Dayton, Ohio in June, 1974. Tom wrote about the import of the conference in the Dignity newsletter. Brian McNaught was also at conference and came out publicly in the report he wrote for the Michigan Catholic. Tom became one of Brian’s many supporters in the subsequent firing and ordeal that Brian faced.

Dignity’s second national convention was held in Boston in September, 1975. Tom was a prominent speaker and leader there. Along with Jeannine Gramick and Robert Nugent, Tom co-authored “Homosexual Catholics: A Primer for Discussion” which espoused full participation of gay and lesbian persons in the Catholic faith. Tom was the keynote speaker at San Diego Conference “Gay Ministry: A Workshop for Priests in the San Diego Roman Catholic Diocese in June 1976.” Tom and other Dignity leaders were encouraged by the dialogue they were having with some bishops and church leaders and felt they were making slow progress toward the church becoming more affirming of LGBTQ persons. Tom believed he was spreading the Gospel which would enable LGBTQ persons to live lives of faith.

Tom completed his term as Dignity’s national secretary in 1977 and that same year appeared in a Dignity film, entitled “Being Gay and Catholic.” Tom had started teaching in the religious studies department of Stonehill College in 1974 and became a full-time instructor there in 1977. His relationship with Paul Diederich ended around this time. Tom completed his Ph.D. dissertation, “The Monk and the Activist: A Comparative Study of the Spirituality of Thomas Merton and Daniel Berrigan,” in the spring of 1979. In July 1979, Boston Cardinal Medeiros sent letter to all pastors indicating that the church should not approve or condone homosexual acts and chastised priests and groups who did that. This backlash of Catholic leaders against Dignity USA and LGBTQ persons and their allies grew in the following years.

Oddo m was teaching classes on human sexuality at Stonehill and used that as platform for continued advocacy for a more compassionate response to LGBTQ persons. In 1981, he appeared in a documentary by Boston’s CBS affiliate “All God’s Children?” which looked at how different religious groups were relating to LGBTQ persons. He also published two essays in the sixth edition of Theological Pastoral Resources: A Collection of Articles on Homosexuality from a Pastoral Perspective. He served as Acting Chair of the Religious Studies Department at Stonehill through 1982.

In early 1982, Tom was contacted by Father Richard Warren, the provincial superior of the Congregation of the Holy Cross, who was assisting with the presidential search at the University of Portland. He proposed that Tom be on the short list of candidates for the presidency of this Holy Cross-related university. Although lacking in university administrative experience, Tom’s youthful energy, charm and philosophy of education impressed the search team. On May 20, 1982 he was announced to be the 17^th president of the University of Portland. He was inaugurated on October 10, 1982.

As president, Oddo set out to be highly visible on campus among students, faculty and staff. He would find continual tensions between forging a new paradigm for Catholic education in a modern age and providing the financial and structural support to sustain the university. He encouraged engagement with the larger Portland community, making ecumenical connections and advocating for peace and justice concerns. He helped raised funds to build a new sports convocation center and chapel and make other improvements to an aging and deteriorating property. He did not shy away from controversial issues, but often was bound by constraints of what was best for the university. Students had long requested co-educational housing options, which Oddo helped initiate after some years of planning and preparation. The university was involved in AIDS outreach and ministry but did not provide official support for LGBTQ students. While Oddo was sympathetic to the concerns about apartheid in South Africa, he did not think the university could adopt an official divestment policy. Oddo was an advocate for utilizing new technology in education.

When long-time president of Notre Dame University, Theodore Hesburgh, retired in 1987, Oddo was considered among his possible successors. That position went to Oddo’s seminary friend, Edward “Monk” Malloy. Oddo gave the homily at Malloy’s inaugural mass in the fall of 1987.

Oddo’s life and work was tragically cut short at the age of 45 when he was killed in a car accident on October 29, 1989. His sudden death was a shock to university students and staff as well as to his many friends and colleagues. His life and accomplishments have been recognized in many different forums in the years since then.

(This biographical profile was written by Mark Bowman from information provided in Against the Current: Father Tom Oddo and the New American Catholic by Tyler Bieber, Unencumbered Press, 2025.)

Biography Date: July 2026

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