Greg Boyle, S.J.

Greg Boyle, S.J. likes to quote St. Francis of Assisi: "Preach the gospel at all times. If necessary, use words." Boyle takes those words to heart serving some of the poorest young men and women in East Los Angeles.

Boyle, who was ordained a Jesuit priest in 1984, is Founder/Director of "Jobs For A Future/Homeboy Industries," an employment referral center and economic development program for at-risk and gang-involved youth, located in the Boyle Heights area of Los Angeles.

His commitment to his ministry is captured in Greg's view of the gospel: "Jesus doesn't say, 'He was in jail and you visited him.' He said, 'I was in jail and you visited me.'"

"There is no us and them," Boyle adds. "We don't cast out demons — we cast out demonizing."

A native of Los Angeles, Boyle graduated from Gonzaga University, and received Master degrees from Loyola Marymount University, and the Weston School of Theology, and an STM degree from the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley. He served as pastor of Dolores Mission, in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Los Angeles, for six years before helping to found Homeboy Industries.

Father Boyle has taught at Loyola High School, worked with Christian Base Communities in Cochabamba, Bolivia, and served as Chaplain of the Islas Marias Penal Colony in Mexico and at Folsom Prison in California.

The following citation was written for Father Boyle, as he was given an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters by John Carroll University on May 23, 2004.

Maybe Nietzsche was right: maybe
The only true Christian died on the cross,
But that doesn't stop you
From asking yourself
What would Jesus do
When a spatter of gunfire, gangfire,
Wakes you in the night. I guess
Jesus would ride through the barrio
On a bicycle at 3am, so at least
When the squad cars don't arrive
There's a lone priest
For a mother to turn to.
Anyway, that's what you do.

You're the one they call
G-Dog, the man
They turn to so often
For a little cash for a cab
To get somewhere for an interview,
You call yourself the human
ATM machine. You're the one
They come to when they're scared,
When they're dying,
When they need to be buried.
The one who tells them nothing
Stops a bullet like a job.

Sometimes in the middle of the day
You stare out the window
Of the Homeboy Bakery, away
From the Spanish laughter
And the baking dough,
And watch the nice cars flashing by,
Row after row,
With all the nice lives inside.
That could have been me,
You think, then smile and look around
At the tattooed forearms
Beating out the bread.
Nothing stops a bullet like a job.


Maybe Nietzsche was right,
But deep in the heart
Of an LA barrio,
Down by Mission Dolores,
It's good to know
That a young man coming
To a bad road
In the middle of the night
Might ask himself before he crosses,
What would G-Dog do?

John Carroll University, honored
To honor you, father of hope,
Confers upon you the degree
Of Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa.

Honorary degree citation written by George Bilgere, Department of English