Author of 'Tatoos on the Heart' to Speak in Santa Fe on Wednesday

Jesuit Priest Greg Boyle, author of  Tatoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion, is the featured speaker at Jobs Not Jails, a discussion sponsored by Santa Fe ¡Youthworks! on Wednesday evening April 22, 7:00 p.m. at the Lensic Performic Arts Center, 211 W. San Francisco St. Santa Fe (map). Long-time local Judge Michael Vigil will also speak.  Tickets are $12 and are available here.

For twenty years,  Father  Boyle has run Homeboy Industries, a gang-intervention program located in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles, considered the gang capital of the world. "In Tattoos on the Heart, he distills his experience working in the ghetto into a breathtaking series of parables inspired by faith," said a description of the book by a national online bookseller.

"Homeboy Industries, which Boyle calls the United Nations of gangs, serves as an employment agency, counseling center and tattoo-removal service, as well as in various other social service capacities," Valerie Weaver-Zercher wrote in The Christian Century. 

Homeboy Industries offers alternatives to gang members
"It’s a non-profit organization of several businesses, including Homeboy Bakery, Homeboy Silkscreen, Homeboy/Homegirl Merchandise, Homeboy Diner, Homeboy Farmers Markets and Homegirl Café, created to provide training and work experience for gang members–sometimes from rival gangs, working side by side. In fact, the most remarkable aspect of Father Boyle’s efforts is his preaching “God’s call to peace” in this battle-weary neighborhood," said in an article published in the Los Angeles Times. 

Tattoos on the Heart has been one of the texts that JustFaith Ministries has used as part of its curriculum on themes of social justice.

Here is a 20-minute TED talk featuring Father Boyle