BOYLE HEIGHTS, Calif.—Father Greg Boyle has received national recognition for his work in East Los Angeles, most recently receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the White House, and May 20 he had a day declared in his honor.
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest U.S. civilian honor. After President Joe Biden presented Mr. Boyle with the Medal of Freedom on May 3 in Washington, D.C., the Los Angeles City Council declared May 19 as Father Greg Boyle Day in recognition of his many decades of community service and work with gang members.
May 19 was also Mr. Boyle’s 70th birthday, the Catholic print and digital outlet Angelus reported.
Mr. Boyle has spent decades helping children in the Boyle Heights and East L.A. areas of Los Angeles. His work culminated in the founding of Homeboy and Homegirl Industries, job training programs for teens who want to escape gang life and violence.
“For decades, Father Boyle has committed his life to serving others in Los Angeles,” Los Angeles City Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez told Angelus. “Whether it was door-knocking in the Pico-Aliso projects, marching alongside the señoras of the Boyle Heights community, building a place for refuge for immigrants seeking a safe place to sleep, Father Boyle has been dedicated to the cause of uplifting those who are often left behind in our society.”
After the council members voted to declare May 19 Father Greg Doyle Day, it was his turn to speak.
“It’s the privilege of my life to know the thousands of men and women who have come through our doors at Homeboy. The day won’t ever come when I have more courage or more nobility or dignity than all those people who have walked through our doors since 1988.
US First Lady Jill Biden next to Homeboy Industries founder Father Gregory Boyle, helps make pastries during a visit to the Homeboy Bakery and Homegirl Cafe in Los Angeles on Sept. 16, 2022. (Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images)
“This is the invitation of every single person here and every elected official to imagine something wildly different than the divisions that plague us,” Mr. Boyle said.
Afterward, the audience sang happy birthday to him. The ceremony ended with Homeboy Industries offering its gratitude to Mr. Boyle.
From his headquarters near downtown Los Angelus, Mr. Boyle and his assistants offer tattoo removal, and food training and job training for young men and women. Homeboy chips and salsa are available in major markets and grocery stores in the Southland.
Mr. Boyle, a Jesuit priest, joined the Society of Jesus in 1972 and was ordained in 1984. He became pastor of Dolores Mission church in Boyle Heights, which was home to many gangs and violence. Mr. Boyle offered an alternative for children in the community to the gang lifestyle.
From those interventions Homeboy and Homegirl Industries were formed.
He’s also written a number of books including his memoir about Homeboy Industries titled “Tattoos On the Heart.” His next book, “Cherished Belonging: The Healing Power of Love in Divided Times,” is scheduled to be released in October.
U.S. President Joe Biden awards the Medal of Freedom to Jesuit Catholic priest Fr. Greg Boyle during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC., on May 3, 2024. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
