Rev. Greg Boyle, S.J., a Jesuit priest renowned for his work with at-risk youth in Los Angeles. Fr. Boyle will describe his work with gang members and others who live in South Central Los Angeles, and how it is guided and strengthened by Jesuit principles. Fr. Boyle, who received an honorary degree from Holy Cross in 1998, has spent much of his life determined to help end gang violence and raise awareness about the causes of gang violence in the U.S. He is the founder and executive director of Jobs for a Future/Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles. His widely-acclaimed organization provides employment, training, counseling and tattoo removal — among other services — for ex-gang members and those at risk of becoming involved in gang culture.
A Los Angeles native, he earned an M. A. from Loyola Marymount University, and the Weston School of Theology, and an S.T.M (Masters of Sacred Theology) from the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley. From 1986 to 1992 Fr. Boyle was a pastor of Dolores Mission, the poorest church in the Los Angeles Catholic Archdiocese. The parish is home of the largest public housing developments west of the Mississippi and the highest concentration of gang activity in the city of Los Angeles. He is also the subject of the book G-Dog and the Homeboys by Celeste Fremon (University of New Mexico Press, 2004), which tells the story of his successes with his unconventional ministry.

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