Greg Boyle

Last updated
The Reverend
Greg Boyle
SJ
Greg Boyle at Durfee Foundation.jpg
Boyle speaks at the Durfee Foundation in 2011
Born
Gregory Joseph Boyle

(1954-05-19) May 19, 1954 (age 70) [1]
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Education BA, Gonzaga University; MA, Loyola Marymount University; M.Div., Weston School of Theology; S.T.M., Jesuit School of Theology
OccupationPriest
Awards Presidential Medal of Freedom (2024)

Gregory Joseph Boyle, S.J. (born May 19, 1954) is an American Catholic priest of the Jesuit order. He is the founder and director of Homeboy Industries, the world's largest gang intervention and rehabilitation program, and former pastor of Dolores Mission Church in Los Angeles.

Contents

Early life and education

Boyle was born in Los Angeles, [2] and is one of eight siblings born to Kathleen and Bernie Boyle (both now deceased). He attended Loyola High School and, upon graduating in 1972, entered the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits). Boyle was ordained a priest in 1984. [3]

He holds a bachelor's degree in philosophy and English from Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington, a master's degree in English from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, a Master of Divinity (M.Div.) degree from the Weston School of Theology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and a Master of Sacred Theology degree from the Jesuit School of Theology, Berkeley, California.

Early career

At the conclusion of his theology studies, Boyle spent a year living and working with Christian base communities in Cochabamba, Bolivia. [4] Upon his return in 1986, he was appointed pastor of Dolores Mission Church, a Jesuit parish in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of East Los Angeles that was then the poorest Catholic church in the city. [5] At the time, the church sat between two large public housing projects and amid the territories of eight gangs. [6] [7] Referred to as the "decade of death" in Los Angeles between 1988-1998, there were close to a thousand people per year killed in Los Angeles from gang related crime.

Homeboy Industries

By 1988, in an effort to address the escalating problems and unmet needs of gang-involved youth, Boyle, alongside parish and community members, began to develop positive opportunities for them, including establishing an alternative school and a day care program, and seeking out legitimate employment, calling this initial effort Jobs for a Future. [8]

In the wake of the 1992 Los Angeles riots, Jobs for a Future and Proyecto Pastoral, a community organizing project begun at the parish, launched their first social enterprise business, Homeboy Bakery. Initial funding for the bakery was donated by the late film producer Ray Stark. [9] In the ensuing years, the success of the bakery created the groundwork for additional social enterprise businesses, leading Jobs for a Future to become an independent nonprofit organization, Homeboy Industries.

Homeboy Industries is the largest and most successful gang rehabilitation and re-entry program in the world. [10] Homeboy offers an "exit ramp" for those stuck in a cycle of violence and incarceration. The organization's holistic approach, with free services and programs, supports around 10,000 men and women a year as they work to overcome their pasts, re-imagine their futures, and break the inter-generational cycles of gang violence. Therapeutic and educational offerings (e.g., case management, counseling, and classes), practical services (e.g., tattoo removal, work readiness, and legal assistance), and job training-focused business (e.g., Homeboy Bakery, Homegirl Café, and Homeboy Silkscreen & Embroidery) provide healing alternatives to gang life while creating safer and healthier communities. [11]

Board membership

Boyle serves as a member of the National Gang Center Advisory Board. He is also a member of the advisory board for the Loyola Law School Center for Juvenile Law and Policy in Los Angeles. [12]

Published works

Awards

Boyle has received the Civic Medal of Honor from the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, [13] the California Peace Prize granted by the California Wellness Foundation, the Lifetime Achievement Award from MALDEF, and the James Irvine Foundation’s Leadership Award. [14]

Boyle was named the 2007 Humanitarian of the Year by Bon Appetit magazine. [15]

Boyle was inducted into the California Hall of Fame in December 2011. [14]

In 2014, Boyle was awarded the honorary Doctor of Humane Letters (L.H.D.) from Whittier College. [16]

He was named the 2016 Humanitarian of the Year by the James Beard Foundation, a national culinary-arts organization. [17]

Boyle was selected to receive the Laetare Medal in recognition of outstanding service to the Catholic Church and society in March 2017. [18]

In 2024, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his work. [19]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Loyola Marymount University</span> Jesuit university in Los Angeles, California

Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is a private Jesuit and Marymount research university in Los Angeles, California. It is located on the west side of the city near Playa Vista. LMU is the parent school to Loyola Law School. LMU offers 55 major and 59 minor undergraduate programs across six undergraduate colleges. The Graduate Division offers 47 master's degree programs, 1 education doctorate, 1 doctorate in juridical science, a Juris Doctor, and 13 credential programs. LMU's sports teams are called the Lions and compete at the NCAA Division I level as members of the West Coast Conference in 20 sports.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pontifical Gregorian University</span> Pontifical university located in Rome, Italy

The Pontifical Gregorian University, is a higher education ecclesiastical school located in Rome, Italy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Fulco</span> American Jesuit scholar (1936–2021)

William James Fulco, S.J., was an American Jesuit priest and National Endowment for the Humanities Professor of Ancient Mediterranean Studies at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Loyola High School (Los Angeles)</span> School in Los Angeles, California, United States

Loyola High School is a private, Roman Catholic, college-preparatory high school for boys in Los Angeles, California, United States. It was established in 1865 and is part of the Society of Jesus. It is the oldest continuously run educational institution in Southern California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Homeboy Industries</span> Nonprofit organization

Homeboy Industries is a youth program founded in 1992 by Father Greg Boyle following the work of the Christian base communities at Dolores Mission Church in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles. The program is intended to assist high-risk youth, former gang members and the recently incarcerated with a variety of free programs, such as mental health counseling, legal services, tattoo removal, curriculum and education classes, work-readiness training, and employment services. A distinctive aspect of Homeboy Industries is its structure of a multifaceted social enterprise and social business. This helps young people who were former gang members and former inmates to have an opportunity to acquire job skills and seek employment in a safe, supportive environment. Among the businesses are the Homeboy Bakery, Homegirl Café & Catering, Homeboy/Girl Merchandise, Homeboy Farmers Markets, The Homeboy Diner at City Hall, Homeboy Silkscreen & Embroidery, Homeboy Grocery, and Homeboy Cafe & Bakery in the American Airlines terminal at Los Angeles International Airport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Joseph Cantwell</span> American Catholic prelate (1874–1947)

John Joseph Cantwell was an Irish-born American prelate of the Catholic Church. He led the Archdiocese of Los Angeles from 1917 until his death in 1947, becoming its first archbishop in 1936. Cantwell was critical of the U.S. film industry and helped found the National Legion of Decency.

Robert B. Lawton is an American Jesuit and the 14th President of Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California. He also holds tenured professorships in both the Classics and Archaeology Department and the Theological Studies Department of LMU.

The Gloria L. and Charles I. Clough School of Theology and Ministry (CSTM) is a Jesuit school of graduate theology at Boston College. It is an ecclesiastical faculty of theology that trains men and women, both lay and religious, for scholarship and service, especially within the Catholic Church.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church, Hollywood</span> Church in CA , USA

Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church is a parish in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles located on Sunset Boulevard in the heart of Hollywood, California. The church today serves an urban, multiethnic community and is known for, among other things, its gay and lesbian ministry and its many outreach programs, including programs to assist the poor. Founded in 1904, the parish was the home parish for many actors during the classic Hollywood era of the 1920s through the 1950s, including Bing Crosby, John Ford, Irene Dunne, Loretta Young, Ricardo Montalbán and Ann Blyth. The Italian Renaissance church, built in 1928 but not completed until 1954, received a historic preservation grant in 2000 from the J. Paul Getty Trust.

Radmar Agana Jao, SJ is an American priest and former actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ignatius of Loyola</span> Basque Spaniard Catholic priest and theologian (1491–1556)

Ignatius of Loyola, venerated as Saint Ignatius of Loyola, was a Basque Spaniard Catholic priest and theologian, who, with six companions, founded the religious order of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), and became its first Superior General, in Paris in 1541.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donald Merrifield</span> American Jesuit, physicist and university president

Donald Paul Merrifield was an American Jesuit who served as the 11th president of Loyola University of Los Angeles. He became the first president of Loyola Marymount University president upon Loyola University's merger with Marymount College in 1973 and remained as the school's president until 1984. Under Merrifield, Loyola Marymount went through a period of rapid expansion in which thirteen new buildings were constructed on the main campus.

White Fence is a predominantly Mexican American street gang in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of East Los Angeles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East Side Spirit and Pride</span>

Eastside Spirit and Pride (ESSP) is a club at East Los Angeles College, founded by Dennis Sanchez.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dennis Sanchez</span>

Dennis R. Sanchez was born in 1956 in Los Angeles. A graduate of the University of Southern California and San Francisco State University, he is a critically acclaimed author. In addition, he is a professor of English at East Los Angeles College and founded the organization, East Side Spirit and Pride, and serves as its current advisor. He was born and raised in East Los Angeles and now resides in Woodland Hills, CA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael C. Barber</span> American prelate

Michael Charles Barber, SJ is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who has been serving as bishop of the Diocese of Oakland in California since 2013.

Dolores Mission, Los Angeles is a Catholic parish in the largely Hispanic area of Boyle Heights in East Los Angeles. The parish has collaborated in various grassroots initiatives to combat adverse social conditions in the area, including Homeboy Industries, Proyecto Pastoral at Dolores Mission, CHIRLA, and the East Los Angeles Housing Coalition.

Fabian Debora is a Chicano artist based out of East Los Angeles known for paintings that capture the immigrant and gang experiences in Los Angeles. His works include graffiti, murals, sketches, and fine art paintings.

George Hisaharu Minamiki (1919–2002) was a Japanese American theologian and educator. He was the first Nisei ordained a Jesuit and authored a significant work regarding the Chinese rites controversy. He served as the second headmaster of Hiroshima Gakuin (広島学院) and was a language professor at the University of Notre Dame for over 20 years.

References

  1. ↑ "Priest Fights Gangs With 'Boundless Compassion'" Interview with Terry Gross on Fresh Air conducted May 19, 2010, broadcast May 20, 2010; the birthday was mentioned in the audio only. Retrieved 2010-05-20.
  2. ↑ "Homeboy Industries Founder, Gregory Boyle, S.J., to Speak at Otis College of Art and Design - SFGate". Archived from the original on 2013-05-19. Retrieved 2013-04-01.
  3. ↑ Wolk, Martin (2019-12-05). "Father Gregory Boyle has an ambitious plan to expand Homeboy Industries". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2019-12-07.
  4. ↑ Gross, Terry (November 13, 2017). "Priest Responds To Gang Members' 'Lethal Absence Of Hope' With Jobs, And Love". Fresh Air. NPR. Well, I was ordained a priest in '84, and then I went to Bolivia to learn Spanish, really. And then it just turned me inside out. I was - it's what you would call being evangelized by the poor. I just said, I want to cast my lot with the poorest folks I can find. And it felt to me the fullness of where my life had led me to that point.
  5. ↑ Murphy, Dean E. (July 27, 1992). "Father Boyle Bids Farewell to Homeboys". Los Angeles Times.
  6. ↑ Katz, Jesse (August 6, 1992). "Painfully, the Priest of the Projects Leaves the Gangs He Loves". Los Angeles Times.
  7. ↑ "Issue 019 – Street Psalms" . Retrieved 2023-11-14.
  8. ↑ "Homeboy Industries Records, University Archives, UCLA".
  9. ↑ Newman, Melinda (2013-12-04). "Meet the Company Creating Jobs for Former Gang Members". Entrepreneur. Retrieved 2023-11-14.
  10. ↑ "A statistical analysis of the art on convicts' bodies". The Economist. Retrieved 2016-12-28.
  11. ↑ Father Gregory Boyle profile, homeboyindustries.org; accessed April 25, 2018.
  12. ↑ "Greg Boyle - Guest Presenters". Calvin University. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
  13. ↑ Lin, Joanna (January 30, 2009). "L.A. civic medal of honor awarded". Los Angeles Times. Previous medal recipients include Father Gregory Boyle, founder of Homeboy Industries; former Los Angeles Mayor Richard O. Riordan and his wife, Nancy Daly Riordan; philanthropist Eli Board; and Warren Christopher, former U.S. secretary of state.
  14. 1 2 "Father Gregory Boyle". California Museum. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  15. ↑ "Food Awards, Part I: The Bon Appetit Awards". Eater SF. September 19, 2007.
  16. ↑ "Honorary Degrees | Whittier College". www.whittier.edu. Retrieved 2019-12-06.
  17. ↑ Rodell, Besha (January 28, 2016). "Homeboy Industries Founder to Receive James Beard Humanitarian of the Year Award" . Retrieved February 12, 2018.
  18. ↑ "University names Fr. Gregory Boyle as 2017 Laetare Medal recipient". The Observer. March 27, 2017.
  19. ↑ Vives, Ruben (2024-05-03). "Father Greg Boyle of Homeboy Industries to receive Presidential Medal of Freedom" . Retrieved 2024-05-04.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.