Father Gregory Boyle: The Eraser Man

In a way, he is a kind of “first responder”: one who runs in the direction of a catastrophe instead of away. For close to 25 years, Father Gregory Boyle has been the pastor of the poorest parish in Los Angeles. Fifteen thousand people come through his doors each year looking for work and for worth. They include addicts and drug dealers, prostitutes and thieves: the kind of people, he readily admits, that you wouldn’t want to meet in a dark alley – or maybe even in a brightly lit one. His organization, under the loose umbrella title of Homeboy Industries, helps people find housing and jobs, and works with them on family and legal issues. One of the things he is famous for is helping remove menacing tattoos, and no one does more of it in the world. He told of one young gang member who had an unspeakable vulgarity – yes, that one – tattooed across the full width of his forehead. Today, it has been completely erased and will allow him to interact with other people without first scaring them to death. It’s all in a day’s work for Father Greg, who spoke this week at University Commons.