Seeking to heal and elevate public discourse on social issues, Catholic Charities of Oregon is hosting a talk by a widely celebrated minister to former gang members. Father Greg Boyle often says amid cultural debates: “There is no us and them, only us.”
Father Boyle, a Jesuit priest, founded Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles in 1988. A New York Times best-selling author, he’ll give a talk entitled “Compassion on the Margins” on Sunday, June 25, 5:30 p.m. at the University of Portland Buckley Auditorium, 5000 N. Willamette Blvd. in Portland. He’ll explore the choice to move to society’s margins and decipher how compassion, kinship, and belonging transform despair into hope.
Father Boyle formed Homeboy Industries to operate in a culture of honesty and tenderness. The ministry has grown into the largest gang rehabilitation and re-entry program in the world, providing jobs and support to thousands every year through its many social enterprise businesses. The ministry includes an 18-month training program, art academy, tattoo removal, case management, mental health and substance abuse services, education programs and legal aid.
“Those who hear Father Greg Boyle invariably move deeper into genuine goodness,” says Natalie M. Wood, executive director of Catholic Charities of Oregon. “At Catholic Charities of Oregon, as at Homeboy Industries, we dismantle the barriers that exclude, acknowledge that everyone is unshakably good and recognize that we belong to each other. We may venture to the margins of society thinking we’ll make a difference, but what really happens is that we become different.”
Father Boyle, author of “Tattoos on the Heart,” has said, “Imagine a circle of compassion and imagine that no one stands outside that circle. We then choose to stand in awe of the burdens people carry, rather than in judgment of how they carry them.”
Admission will cost $40 with VIP tickets costing $125. To register, go to https://catholiccharitiesoregon.ejoinme.org/Boyle, call Laura Foley, 503.688.2562, or email her at LFoley@CCOregon.org.
There is still a limited number of spots for sponsors, who can attend a VIP event with Father Boyle.