Los Angeles – California-based prominent Christian priest, Hilarion Heagy, has converted to Islam.
Heagy, who has now changed his name to Said Abdul Latif, said he was attracted to Islam 20 years ago, but only recently converted to the religion.
„After decades of being attracted to Islam in varying degrees, I finally decided to take the plunge.“
„To do so, however, a physical move was necessary and appropriate, as I was living in a Catholic monastery. You can’t just be a priest and a monk in public and a Muslim in private,“ he said.
Heagy said he has received warm messages from Muslims since announcing his conversion to Islam.
„The warmth and hospitality I have received from the Muslim community is just phenomenal. I have never experienced such hospitality. The future is uncertain for me. A leap into the unknown always comes with some fears.“
Heagy told media that his conversion to the Islamic religion was like „coming home“ and was actually a „conversion to Islam.“
Heagy wrote in his blog post:
„It’s really like a ‚homecoming.‘ My original belief. Because the Quran says that we worship and submit to God alone before we were even born.“
To further justify his point, Hilarion Heagy quoted from the Holy Quran:
„And remember when your Lord brought forth from the loins of the children of Adam their progeny and made them testify about themselves. Allah asked, ‚Am I not your Lord?‘ They answered, ‚Yes, you are! We bear witness.‘ He warned, ‚You have no right to say on the Day of Judgment, ‚We did not know.'“ – Quran (7:172)“
In response to the blog entry, an article recently appeared on Catholic.com titled „Sad Journey of ‚Muslim Priest‘.“ The news that the former priest had embraced Islam also drew mixed reactions on social media, with Muslims welcoming him to the faith and some Christians castigating him as an „apostate.“
Please pray for Father Hilarion Heagy who has apostatized from the faith and has embraced Islam.https://t.co/n6IrI9IMmO
— Jeff Cassman (@JeffCassman) February 20, 2023
