PRIESTS FATHER ROB HAGAN, O.S.A. at a Villanova football game. Hagan is chaplain to both the men’s basketball and football teams.
Team spirit: The priest on Villanova’s bench
by Leslie Scanlon COURTESY OF VILLANOVA UNIVERSITY
Leslie Scanlon is a national correspondent f o r P re s by te rian Outlook magazine and a former religion writer at the Courier-Journal i n Lo u i s v i l l e , Kentucky. Her work has appeared in the Christian Century, the Washington Post, and many other publications.
Father Rob Hagan, O.S.A. left a successful legal career to answer a call that had hovered in his heart for years. Today the Augustinian priest leaves the door to his dorm room at Villanova University open for athletes and anyone else who needs a listening ear.
F
ATHER ROB HAGAN is the not-so-tall guy—relative to those in basketball—wearing a clerical collar and hanging out near the end of the Villanova University bench when the men’s basketball team plays. He’s the spiritual anchor of a team that won the 2016 NCAA championship with a thrilling last-second three-pointer by Kris Jenkins on a dish-off pass. With prayer and spiritual guidance, this priest fills a holy spot at his alma mater in the wickedly competitive, wildly secular world of college sports—the last place
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