We are thrilled to announce that Fr. Gregory Boyle, S.J. will be our Homilist for the 42nd Annual Red Mass in Los Angeles on October 23, 2024. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Fr. Boyle is the founder of Homeboy Industries, the largest gang-intervention, rehabilitation, and re-entry program in the world.
In 1986, Fr. Boyle became pastor of Dolores Mission Church in Boyle Heights, which at the time was the poorest Catholic parish in Los Angeles and had the highest concentration of gang activity in the city. Fr. Boyle witnessed the devastating impact of gang violence on his community during the so-called “decade of death” that began in the late 1980s, peaking at 1,000 gang-related killings in 1992.
In response, Fr. Boyle and his parish community 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 provide critical services to thousands of individuals who walk through its doors every year seeking a better life.
Fr. Boyle is the author of the 2010 New York Times-Bestseller, Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion, followed by Barking to the Choir: The Power of Radical Kinship (2017), and The Whole Language: The Power of Extravagant Tenderness (2021). Recently, he debuted Forgive Everyone Everything, an anthology of writings accompanied by Fabian Debora’s artwork.
He received the California Peace Prize and was inducted into the California Hall of Fame. In 2014, President Barack Obama named Fr. Boyle a “Champion of Change.” He received the University of Notre Dame’s 2017 Laetare Medal, the oldest honor given to American Catholics. Most recently, Fr. Boyle was awarded the 2024 Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States’ highest civilian honor.
Join us and Fr. Boyle at the 42nd Annual Red Mass, on October 23, 2024 at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Downtown Los Angeles.