Biden awards priest who runs gang rehab ministry Presidential Medal of Freedom
A Catholic priest who founded a ministry serving former gang members received the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
In a statement published Friday, President Joe Biden announced 19 individuals who would receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom during a ceremony at the White House that day.
One recipient, Fr. Gregory Boyle, is a Catholic priest who founded Homeboy Industries, which the White House describes as “the world’s largest gang-intervention and rehabilitation program.”
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As Biden said during the ceremony, the Presidential Medal of Freedom was established by former President John F. Kennedy to recognize “any person who has made an especially meritorious contribution to the security … and national interests of the United States or world peace, cultural or other significant … public or private endeavors.”
Biden praised Boyle’s “faith in a better tomorrow.”
“Your service as a Jesuit priest over four decades reminds us of the power of redemption, rehabilitation, and our obligation to those who have been condemned or counted out," Biden said. "Thank you, Father Greg, for your amazing grace.”
“Inspired by his Jesuit teachers, Fr. Greg Boyle has dedicated his life to healing and hope,” a military aide detailed as Biden wrapped the Presidential Medal of Freedom around Boyle’s neck. “As a young priest assigned to one of Los Angeles’ most underserved parishes, he founded Homeboy Industries, now the largest gang-rehabilitation and re-entry program in the world.”
The military aide credited Homebody Industries with helping “thousands of Angelenos turn their lives around, connecting them to jobs, counseling and a warm-hearted community where all are welcome and cherished.”
Noting how Boyle answered “Jesus’ call to serve the least of these,” the military aide characterized him as “a testament to the power of God’s healing love and America’s enduring grace.”
The main programs offered by Homeboy Industries are an “18-month employment and re-entry program” and “discrete services such as tattoo removal or substance abuse resources," according to its website.
Homeboy Industries says that it has served 7,800 community clients and provided over 3,000 tattoo removal treatments since its founding in 1988.
The 18-month employment and re-entry program served over 400 men and women in 2018 alone. The ministry's 2022-23 annual report shows that 21,500 class sessions took place during that time period, and about 11,840 tattoo treatments were also performed.
“We work with the population that nobody desires to work with, and it’s a principle of this place that we stand with them," Boyle said in a statement on the website.
“Gang violence is about a lethal absence of hope.”
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is not the first award bestowed on Boyle in recognition of his work to rehabilitate gang members. Boyle has also received the California Peace Prize and was inducted into the California Hall of Fame.
In 2014, former President Barack Obama named Boyle a "Champion of Change." In 2017, the University of Notre Dame awarded Boyle the Laetare Medal, which the website describes as “the oldest honor given to American Catholics.”
While Homeboy Industries originated in Los Angeles, where it continues to operate to this day, the organization has become “a blueprint for over 400 organizations around the world, from Alabama and Idaho, to Guatemala and Scotland.”
Founded in 2014, the Global Homeboy Network works with organizations worldwide "to create therapeutic communities that offer job skills training, cost-free programs and services and social enterprise employment.
The Global Homeboy Network has partner organizations in 33 states, the District of Columbia, 19 countries and Native American nations.
Boyle has authored two books: Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion, written in 2010, and Barking to the Choir: The Power of Radical Kinship, published in 2017.
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
