Rev. Gregory J. Boyle, S.J., founder and executive director of Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles, California, will receive the University of Notre Dame’s 2017 Laetare Medal — the oldest and most prestigious honor given to American Catholics — at Notre Dame’s 172nd University commencement ceremony on May 21 (Sunday).
“For nearly 30 years, Father Boyle has served men and women who have been incarcerated and involved with gangs, and, in doing so, has helped them to discover the strength and hope necessary to transform their lives,” said Notre Dame’s president, Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C. “Father Boyle’s solidarity with our sisters and brothers at the margins of society offers an inspiring model of faith in action. We are grateful for the witness of his life and honored to bestow this award on him.”
Homeboy Industries, which began in 1988, is now the largest gang intervention, rehabilitation and re-entry program in the world. Homeboy’s holistic approach — including therapeutic and educational offerings, practical services like tattoo removal and work readiness and job training-focused social enterprises — serves 10,000 men and women a year. The organization offers an exit ramp to those stuck in cycles of violence and incarceration and helps them develop the strength and skills to transform their lives and become contributing members of society.
While Homeboy’s achievements are myriad — including the Global Homeboy Network that facilitates best practice sharing among 85 like-minded organizations around the world — Father Boyle insists that meaningful life change requires kinship, or welcoming ourselves and others into radical, mutual acceptance.
Established at Notre Dame in 1883, the Laetare Medal was conceived as an American counterpart of the Golden Rose, a papal honor that antedates the 11th century. The medal has been awarded annually at Notre Dame to a Catholic “whose genius has ennobled the arts and sciences, illustrated the ideals of the Church and enriched the heritage of humanity.”
Among the previous recipients of the Laetare Medal are Civil War Gen. William Rosecrans, operatic tenor John McCormack, President John F. Kennedy, Catholic Work founder Dorothy Day, novelist Walker Percy, Vice President Joe Biden and Speaker of the House John Boehner, Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, labor activist Monsignor George G. Higgins, jazz composer Dave Brubeck and actor Martin Sheen.
Full story at Notre Dame News.
This priest is truly a deserving recipient of this prestigious award.
Fr. Boyle does not agree with Church teaching on homosexuality and female ordination, thus he is a dissenting priest. The UCCSB document entitled “Catholics in Political Life” couldn’t be more clear that “those who act in defiance of our fundamental morals and principles… should not be given honors, awards, or platforms”. That he publicly proclaims his dissent is scandalous.
Sadly, this priest was given the name “G Dog” by former gang members and he seems to prefer it to the sacred title of “Father”. He is a perfect fit for the formerly Catholic University of Notre Dame.
How do you know he doesn’t agree with Church teaching on homosexuality and female ordination?
This very website posted an article on June 6, 2015, and the headline was “Los Angeles Jesuit Father Greg Boyle ridicules Church teaching”. Read Fr. Boyle’s own words.
https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/catholic-charities-usa-invites-pro-gay-marriage-priest-to-keynote-annual-ga
Boyle is a garden variety Jesuit. The better question is why you need this information served up to you on a silver platter.
Father Boyle is truly doing the work of God! God Bless him and the work of homeboy ministries.
Vice President Mike Pence, who will also speak the commencement ceremony, could learn a few things from Father Boyle.
Seriously? The Jesuit Oregon province paid out $250 million in 2011 in abuse settlements and bankrupted itself in the process. That’s only Oregon. The homosexual scandals drenching this order have been in the news for decades. And the Church homosexual abuse scandals have mirrored the sickness of its largest religious order. And the Jesuits still flout dissenters on homosexual teaching like Boyle. They are either to stupid to see the connection, or too corrupted to care. In the meantime, million of Catholics have left the Church feeling betrayed, disgusted, confused or all three. Mike Pence was one of them and may have saved his soul in the process. Let Boyle be anathema
The Laetare Medal is becoming as meaningless as the Nobel Peace Prize.