“[We] need to invest in people and create together a community of cherished belonging.”

Father Gregory Boyle, S.J.

Closing Speaker, Day One: Cherished Belonging: The Healing Power of Love in Divided Times

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Father Bolye is a native Angeleno and Jesuit priest, from 1986 to 1992 Father Gregory Boyle served as pastor of Dolores Mission Church in Boyle Heights, then the poorest Catholic parish in Los Angeles that also had the highest concentration of gang activity in the city. Father Boyle witnessed the devastating impact of gang violence on his community during the so-called “decade of death” that began in the last 1980s and peaked at 1,000 gang-related killings in 1992. In the face of law enforcement tactics and criminal justice policies of suppression and mass incarceration as the means to end gang violence, he and parish and community members adopted what was a radical approach at the time: treat gang members as human beings.

In 1988 they started what would eventually become Homeboy Industries, which employs and trains
former gang members in a range of social enterprises, as well as provides critical services to thousands of men and women who walk through its doors every year seeking a better life.

Homeboy Industries is the largest gang rehabilitation and re-entry program in the world. For over 30
years, they have stood as a beacon of hope in Los Angeles to provide training and support to formerly gang-involved and previously incarcerated people, allowing them to redirect their lives and become contributing members of their community.

This past May, Father Boyle received The Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States’ highest
civilian honor, from President Biden. “This recognition is heartening because it honors the many
thousands of men and women who have walked through our doors at Homeboy Industries since 1988. It acknowledges their dignity and nobility and the courage of their tenderness. It underscores for us all, the invitation to no longer punish wound, but seek its healing. It recognizes the need to invest in people and to create together a community of cherished belonging.”

Father Boyle’s ministry through Homeboy Industries exemplifies the transformative power of
compassion, forgiveness, and second chances. For decades, he has empowered hundreds of thousands of individuals to break free from cycles of poverty, violence, and incarceration. His unwavering dedication to building bridges across divides and promoting understanding through compassion, kinship and tenderness underscores the importance of empathy and connection in creating a more harmonious society.

Learn more about Homeboy Industries: https://homeboyindustries.org/.