Father Greg witnessed the devastating impact of gang violence on his community during the so-called “decade of death” that began in the late 1980s and peaked at 1,000 gang-related killings in 1992.
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ICUJP Friday Forum
November 1st, 7:30-9:30 am Pacific

A Conversation With Father Gregory Boyle
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Event Description:
The principle suffering of the poor is shame and disgrace. It is a toxic shame -- a global sense of failure of the whole self. This shame can seep so deep down... To this end, one hopes (against all human inclination) to model not the "one false move" God but the "no matter whatness" of God. You seek to imitate the kind of God you believe in, where disappointment is, well, Greek to Him. You strive to live the black spiritual that says, "God looks beyond our fault and sees our need."
-- Gregory Boyle, Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion
There is a quote by the writer Austin O'Malley: Practical prayer is harder on the soles of your shoes than on the knees of your trousers. One person that has surely worn out countless pairs of shoes is Jesuit priest Gregory Boyle. The founder of the largest gang intervention, rehabilitation and prison reentry program in the world, Father Greg Boyle rejects the idea that it is God’s plan that anyone should die of a gang member’s bullet.
Join us as Father Boyle discusses compassion, kinship and the transformational power of hope.
Join the conversation with our speaker:
A native Angeleno and Jesuit priest, from 1986 to 1992 Father Gregory Boyle served as pastor of Dolores Mission Church in Boyle Heights, then the poorest Catholic parish in Los Angeles that also had the highest concentration of gang activity in the city.
Father Boyle witnessed the devastating impact of gang violence on his community during the so-called “decade of death” that began in the late 1980s and peaked at 1,000 gang-related killings in 1992. In the face of law enforcement tactics and criminal justice policies of suppression and mass incarceration as the means to end gang violence, he and parish and community members adopted what was a radical approach at the time: treat gang members as human beings.
In 1988 they started what would eventually become Homeboy Industries, which employs and trains former gang members in a range of social enterprises, as well as provides critical services to thousands of men and women who walk through its doors every year seeking a better life.
Father Boyle is the author of the 2010 New York Times-bestseller Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion. His new book, Barking to the Choir: The Power of Radical Kinship, was published in 2017.
He has received the California Peace Prize and been inducted into the California Hall of Fame. In 2014, President Obama named Father Boyle a Champion of Change. He received the University of Notre Dame’s 2017 Laetare Medal, the oldest honor given to American Catholics. Currently, he serves as a committee member of California Governor Gavin Newsom’s Economic and Job Recovery Task Force as a response to COVID-19.
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7:30 - 7:35 Log in and socialize
7:35 - 7:45 Welcome and introductions
7:45 - 7:50 Reflection (5 min. maximum)
7:50 - 9:15 Program and Q&A
9:15 - 9:20 Announcements
9:20 - 9:30 Closing circle and prayer
Start your morning with us!
Facilitator: Dave Clennon
Reflector: Carolfrances Likins
Here's how to join the online meeting:
To join by video conference, you'll need to download the Zoom app on your computer or mobile device. Click on the link to join the meeting and then enter the Meeting ID number and passcode. You'll be able to see slides and video, as well as speakers and other attendees.
If you prefer to join by phone, you'll be prompted to enter the Meeting ID number and passcode. You won't be able to see the visuals or attendees, but you can view them on the meeting video recording afterward.
If you're new to Zoom and would like to use the video option, we recommend you download the app well ahead of time.
ICUJP Friday Forum 11/01/24
Time: 07:30 AM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
RSVP AT BOTTOM OF PAGE
(To find a dial-in number closer to you, go here.)
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Please note: Our Friday Forums and other events are open to the public. By attending, you consent to having your voice and likeness recorded, photographed, posted on ICUJP's website and social media, and included in ICUJP materials and publications for noncommercial purposes. If you don't want to be photographed or recorded, please let the facilitator know.
Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace recognizes the Gabrieliño Tongva as the past, present, and future caretakers of the land, water, and cultural resources in the unceded territory of Los Angeles.
ICUJP Forums on local Measures and Propositions
ICUJP has highlighted local and state propositions and measures as well as analysis of issues on the ballot this year.
The following are reccomedations from ICUJP's board on local and statewide key propositions:
Prop 5 - YES [Allows local bonds for affordable housing and public infrastructure with 55% voter approval]
Prop 6 - YES [Ends involuntary servitude as a punishment for crime]
Prop 33 - YES [Repeals Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act, which prohibits local ordinances limiting initial residential rental rates for new tenants]
Prop 34 - NO [Limits how a small group of certain healthcare providers spend revenues from a federal prescription drug program]
Measure A - YES [Raises an estimated $1.1 billion per year for housing and homelessness efforts by levying a 1/2 cent tax on every $1 of goods sold in L.A. County]
Please check out our forums on these ballot measures below:

Prop. 6 - Involuntary Servitude is Slavery
Daniel Tamm / Anthony Manousos: Yes on A / Affordable Housing on the Ballot
23nd Anniversary of ICUJP: 23 years of working for Justice and Peace
Twenty-three years ago, Rev. George Regas of All-Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena reached out to clergy, community leaders, and laypeople to come together to seek an alternative to the fear-mongering and vengefulness sweeping much of our nation in the wake of September 11. The message that they wanted to convey was coherent and powerful: “Religious Communities Must Stop Blessing War and Violence.” On that day, Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace was born.
These past 22 years have been a journey for ICUJP - five Presidents, four California Governors, and numerous crisis and issues that would shake the resolve of even the most devout and dedicated of activists. But through it all, we go forward in our mission to be the voice for "the least of these", and our determination to create the change we want to see in the world.
On Sunday, September 8th, 2024, ICUJP honored Rev. George Regas's life and legacy, and recognized deserving organizations with the 2023 George F. Regas Courageous Peacemaker Award. Our theme this year was "Passing The Torch - Working for Justice and Peace from City Hall to Palestine", and we wanted to lift up the ancestors that started us on this mission shortly after September 11, 2001. We held up the spirits of Rev. George Regas, Rabbi Leonard Beerman, Dr. Maher Hathout, and Rev. James Lawson at Rev. Lawson's Sothern California home church for many years, Holman United Methodist Church.
We also wanted to acknowledge the ongoing work of the many activists that are carrying on the great strides of the previous generation and answering the call of our era, and we honored the extraordinary leadership of three of those leaders: Hedab Tarifi, Tahil Sharma, and Simone Zimmerman.
Please consider helping Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace in its mission. ICUJP operates as a largely volunteer organization with a small part-time paid staff. We have survived for over 20 years through the generosity of individuals and organizations like you. Like so many other organizations, our ability to raise donations has been hampered during the COVID pandemic.
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