Fr. Gregory Boyle was born in Los Angeles and is one of eight children. He entered the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) in 1972 and was ordained a priest in 1984. He received his BA in English from Gonzaga University, an MA in English from Loyola Marymount University, and advanced theology degrees from the Weston School of Theology and the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley.

He has taught at Loyola High School in Los Angeles, was chaplain in the Islas Marias Penal Colony in Mexico and at Folsom Prison, and worked with Christian Base Communities in Cochabamba, Bolivia. He was appointed pastor of Dolores Mission Church in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of East Los Angeles in 1986, where he served through 1992. Homeboy Industries was born in 1988 and is now the largest gang intervention, rehabilitation, and re-entry program in the United States. (www.homeboyindustries.org)

Fr. Boyle is the author of the New York Times Bestselling book Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion. His debut book has been honored by SCIBA (Southern California Indie Booksellers Association), Pen USA, Publishers Weekly, and Goodreads Choice Awards.

Fr. Boyle has received numerous honorary degrees, awards, and recognitions, including the Civic Medal of Honor, the California Peace Prize, Humanitarian of the Year from Bon Appetit Magazine, and in 2011 was inducted into the California Hall of Fame.

Fr. Boyle has served on the U.S. Attorney General’s (DOJ) National Task Force on Children Exposed to Violence, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention’s (OJJDP) National Gang Center Advisory Board, the State Commission for Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, and the Loyola Law School Center for Juvenile Law and Policy (CJLP) Advisory Board.

Website:  Homeboy Industries
Facebook: Father Gregory Boyle