Sixth Annual Peter Roche de Coppens Spirituality Lecture Scheduled at ESU

Father Gregory Boyle

Posted by: Elizabeth Richardson on April 4, 2019, No Comments

East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania’s department of sociology, social work & criminal justice is hosting its sixth annual Peter Roche de Coppens Sociology and Spirituality Lecture on Thursday, April 18 at 7 p.m. in Abeloff Auditorium. This year’s presentation by Father Gregory Boyle is entitled Barking to the Choir: Power of Radical Kinship.

Gregory Boyle is the founder of Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles, Calif., the largest gang intervention, rehabilitation, and re-entry program in the world. A Jesuit priest, from 1986 to 1992 Father Boyle served as pastor of Dolores Mission Church, then the poorest Catholic parish in Los Angeles that also had the highest concentration of gang activities in the city. In the face of law enforcement tactics and criminal justice policies of suppression and mass incarceration as the means to end gang violence, Father Boyle 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. He has received the California Peace Prize and been inducted into the California Hall of Fame. In 2014, the White House 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.

This is the sixth annual Sociology and Spiritually Lecture, sponsored by the Peter Roche de Coppens Spirituality Fund. The lecture series was established in honor of the late Dr. Roche de Coppens, ESU professor of sociology. It is designed to help students’ awareness and understanding of the sociological significance of spirituality in one’s life.

For more information, please contact Carrie Maloney, Ph.D., associate professor of sociology, social work and criminal justice at 570-422-3448 or cmaloney5@esu.edu or Ray Muller, Ph.D., professor of sociology, social work and criminal justice at 570-422-3014 or rmuller@esu.edu or Hooshang Pazaki, Ph.D., professor of sociology, social work and criminal justice at 570-422-3281 or shpazaki@esu.edu