Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 17, 2024 / 10:50 am

In an Instagram post announcing his conversion to the Catholic faith, former NBA All-Star Gordon Hayward captioned a photo of himself in Rome’s Cathedral of St. Sebastian with the Latin phrase “Nunc Coepi,” or “Now I begin.”  

And what a beginning it was for the former Celtics player, who received the sacraments of initiation and first Communion from Archbishop Timothy Broglio, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and archbishop of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA.

In the church named for the patron of soldiers and athletes, Hayward “crossed the Tiber,” literally and figuratively, to join the Church of his wife, Robin, and their children.

This week, the former Celtics forward shared his story with EWTN News, revealing what ultimately led him to Rome.

Hayward told CNA in an interview that the idea of having his confirmation in Rome had initially come about as a joke between him and the priest with whom he went through RCIA, Father Marcel Tallion, who is also the interim director of vocations for the Military Archdiocese.

“We were just talking about it and joking, like how cool would it be to do your confirmation in Rome?” Hayward recalled.

“He was like, ‘Well, I’m going to be there at the end of September, early October if you wanted to go.’ My family and I, we jumped on that opportunity and decided to do it,” Hayward explained.

Tallion arranged the logistics for his trip to Rome and confirmation with Broglio, who has been there for the past month due to the ongoing Synod on Synodality taking place at the Vatican. Tallion was also the childhood priest of Hayward’s former coach, Joe Mazzulla of the Boston Celtics. 

Receiving the sacraments in a private Mass at the Church of St. Sebastian in Rome was a memorable experience for Hayward.

“They closed it off for us,” he told CNA. “That was something that was really cool.”

In addition to the tomb of St. Sebastian, the Church of St. Sebastian also houses a stone that is believed to have the footprints of Christ imprinted on it from the “Domine Quo Vadis?” scene in the Gospel of John (see John 13:36).

Seminarians from the North American College in Rome also provided sacred music for the reception Mass, which Tallion concelebrated alongside the archbishop and several seminarians who are prospective U.S. military chaplains. 

“The Eucharist is the biggest deal,” Hayward told CNA while discussing his reasons for pursuing the Catholic faith. Hayward and his wife, Robin, have been married for 10 years, and he has been attending Catholic Mass since the two met. 

“I just never partook in the Eucharist and would just stand in the back as they were all going up,” said Hayward, who grew up Lutheran. “Out of respect for the whole thing, I was told at a young age, you can’t partake in the Eucharist if you’re not Catholic. And so I just never did.” 

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The former Celtics player also appeared last week on “EWTN News Nightly,” where he told host Tracy Sabol that it was through conversations with family members, including his wife’s brother, Max, that he eventually came to know the Church’s teachings on the Eucharist. 

“After learning about [the Eucharist], it was like, man, I’ve been missing out my whole life,” he later said in the interview with CNA.  

Apart from the Eucharist, Hayward told CNA that discussions on how Catholics pray “through” the Blessed Virgin Mary and the saints rather than “to” them were also significant to his conversion, having grown up in a Protestant background with “misconceptions” about the Church’s teachings. 

Hayward also noted that discussions of his concerns about corruption and abuse of power within the Church were also pivotal for him. Ultimately, he said, learning that the Catholic Church’s teachings have remained the same throughout history, despite having been governed by scandalous figures, “really resonated with me.”

Hayward, 34, announced his retirement from professional basketball via social media in August after 14 seasons playing for the Utah Jazz, Boston Celtics, Charlotte Hornets, and Oklahoma City Thunder. The forward had suffered numerous injuries for the last seven years of his career.

Writing about the decision in his Instagram post, Hayward attributed his success to God: “God has blessed me with an amazing journey, one that has taken turns that I couldn’t have expected or dreamed of as a kid in Brownsburg, Indiana.”

The announcement came after a season with Oklahoma City Thunder, which Hayward had spent largely on the bench, according to reports. 

He also noted in the retirement post that he was looking forward to the future, which included “spend[ing] more time with my family as a father and husband.”

Hayward and his wife have four children — three daughters and one son. Hayward’s two eldest daughters came to Rome, he told CNA, adding: “I think that was really cool and special for them to see me become Catholic. We made it a big deal.”

Reflecting on how his conversion has influenced the way he views fatherhood and marriage, Hayward told CNA that receiving the sacrament of reconciliation was something that “made me want to be a better spiritual leader in our family.” 

Upon their return from Rome, Hayward said he attended Mass with his wife and children at their local church: “And for all of us to go up and partake in the Eucharist and receive the host — that was pretty cool.” 

Madalaine Elhabbal is a staff reporter for Catholic News Agency based at EWTN’s Washington, D.C., bureau. She has been published by CatholicVote and has also worked as foreign language assistant in France. She is a graduate of Benedictine College.