Fifth Anniversary of the Institute for Forgiveness and Reconciliation

to Feature  Lecture from Homeboys Industries Founder

 

Greg Boyle, S.J., New York Times best-selling author and founder of Homeboy Industries will present the lecture, “We Are One: It’s All about Kinship” on Tuesday, March 11, at 7 p.m. in the Sorgenti Arena. The lecture celebrates the fifth anniversary of the Institute for Forgiveness and Reconciliation at Chestnut Hill College.

Boyle will discuss how we as a society can achieve compassion for the poor, rather than stand in judgment of their actions. His talk will reflect on how compassion lies not in service to those who are marginalized, but in our willingness to see ourselves in kinship with them.

Father Greg is the author of the New York Times best seller, “Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion.” Born and raised in L.A, a city of 1,100 gangs, Boyle, a Jesuit priest since 1984, has embarked on a journey of kinship with his community. His response to gang violence and addiction was the creation of Homeboy/Homegirl Industries, the largest gang intervention, rehabilitation, and re-entry program in the United States. Homeboys Industries serves high risk, former gang involved men and women with free services and programs, in addition to seven social enterprises: Homegirl Cafe and Catering, Homeboy Farmers Markets, Homeboy & Girl Merchandise, Homeboy Grocery, and Homeboy Silkscreen and Embroidery that serve as job-training sites.

Through his work, Father Greg has inspired change, gifted opportunity, and modeled kinship.He has received numerous honorary degrees, awards and recognitions that include the Civic Medal of Honor, the California Peace Prize, Humanitarian of the Year from Bon Appetit Magazine, and in 2011, was inducted

into the California Hall of Fame. He has served on the State Commission for Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, the National Youth Gang Center Board and the Attorney General’s Defending Childhood Task Force.

Boyle received his undergraduate degree in English from Gonzaga University, a master’s in English from Loyola Marymount University, and advanced theology degrees from The Weston School ofTheology and the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley.

The Institute for Forgiveness and Reconciliation was launched in 2009 to be a learning laboratory for research and scholarship where forgiveness and reconciliation would be explored as alternatives to violence and conflict in our culture. Since its inception, the Institute has hosted a variety of lecturers and guest speakers on topics surrounding forgiveness and peace, that include John Dear, S.J., Robert Schreiter, C.PP.S., Michael Berg, and Melissa Fitzgerald.

For more information, please contact Catherine Nerney, SSJ, Ph.D. at 215.248.7099 or e-mail nerneyc@chc.edu. For more information about the Institute for Forgiveness and Reconciliation at Chestnut Hill College, please visit www.chc.edu/forgive

About ChestnutHillCollege

Chestnut Hill College, a four-year coed Catholic college in the Ignatian tradition, offers a traditional liberal arts undergraduate program as well as accelerated undergraduate degrees, master’s and doctoral programs. The College has been rated by US News & World Report as among the best master’s universities in the North, as among the best Northeastern colleges by The Princeton Review,and has been classified as selective by TheCarnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Since its inception, the College has offered a rigorous curriculum that provides students with a broad background in the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences. The goal of ChestnutHillCollege has been to prepare students for life’s challenges by helping them to grow intellectually, spiritually, emotionally, and socially.

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