By Nick Williams, Photography Editor Assistant News Editor
Father Gregory Boyle, founder of Homeboy Industries—the world’s largest gang intervention and rehabilitation program—delivered a powerful lecture at Susquehanna University, weaving humor, theology and personal stories to advocate for kinship and societal transformation.
The event, part of the University’s annual Alice Pope-Shade Lecture Series, highlighted Boyle’s decades-long work empowering former gang members and marginalized communities in the greater Los Angeles area.
Boyle opened by reframing the purpose of gathering in any space as a launching point to “imagine a circle of compassion” and dismantle exclusion. “You go from here to stand at the margins,” he urged, “because that’s the only way they’ll ever get erased.”
Central to his message was the idea of kinship: creating communities where “there is no ‘us and them,’ only ‘us.’” He shared stories from Homeboy Industries, where former gang rivals traded in bullets for text messages, embodying this vision he vividly saw.
One such story placed grand emphasis on the program’s success in fostering connection. Two men, Manuel and Snoopy, once sworn enemies from rival gangs, now exchanged jokes as friends.
Boyle’s out-of-the-box theology frames an “exhausted God,” whose defining trait is boundless generosity, as opposed to finite judgment. He critiqued the narrow views of divinity, quoting 13th century theologian Meister Eckhart by saying, “Any talk of God that doesn’t comfort you is a lie.”
This theology informs, as well as guides, Homeboy’s work. By the organization’s efforts, dignity is restored through job training, mental health support and services like tattoo removal.
The pastor also shared poignant personal moments, including his mother’s death, which he framed brilliantly as a metaphor for divine love and the Lord’s grace. Her final breath, as he said, was a gasp of “wondrous, glorious” emotion. This shows the affirmation of life, as well as reflects on God’s “breathless delight” in humanity.
Boyle says Homeboy’s origins date back to his 1988 pastoral assignment at Los Angeles’s poorest parish. Striving to combat systemic neglect and rampant gang violence, he founded a school for expelled youth and later created job programs; in turn, he was laying the groundwork for what would become Homeboy Industries. Today, the organization employs over 800 people across social enterprises, offering a way out of the criminal lifestyle.
It was not until 1992 when Homeboy would officially be realized. In addition to employment, the non-profit readily provides counseling, education and legal aid; In Boyle’s eyes, “nothing stops a bullet like a job.”
His philanthropic actions earned him the 2024 Presidential Medal of Freedom. The accolade, which is known to be one of the nation’s greatest honors, celebrates his lifetime of “radical inclusivity.”
Closing with a call to action, Boyle challenged the audience to “become the tender glance of God in the world.” His words on the evening of Feb. 25 left a clear message: kinship is not a naive ideal, but a practice. With hard work and empathy, it can be one that transforms communities by refusing to discard anyone.
