Gregory Boyle, S.J., a Jesuit priest and founder of Homeboy Industries—the largest gang-intervention program in the world—offers a transformative vision of community and compassion in his latest book, Cherished Belonging: The Healing Power of Love in Divided Times (Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster, 2024). Homeboy Industries runs on two unwavering principles: 1) We are all inherently good (no exceptions), and 2) we belong to each other (no exceptions). Fr. Boyle believes that these two ideas allow for a new way of seeing the world. Rather than the tribalism that excludes and punishes, his narrative proposes a village that cherishes, a space for people to join together and heal one another in a new collective living dedicated to kindness. A Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, Fr. Boyle is an alumnus of the Clough School of Theology and Ministry. He also is the author of Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion, among other publications. Cherished Belonging has been chosen as the common read for the Boston College Class of 2029. Fr. Boyle will talk about the book with first-year students at Academic Convocation on September 4.