Bishop urges programme for Irish gang members
Bishop of Kilmore Martin Hayes urged people across Ireland last weekend to “remove the blindfold of our perceptions to see the goodness in others”.
The Bishops' Conference liaison to the Irish Prison Service was speaking in Reflection for Prisoners’ Sunday, suggesting that Irish gang members should be encouraged to participate in a local version of 'Homeboy Industries', an initiative successfully pioneered on the toughest streets in America.
The largest gang rehabilitation and re-entry programme in the world, the youth diversion programme was founded in 1992 by Father Greg Boyle following the work of the Christian base communities at Dolores Mission Church in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles.
“He started a school as there were no places for those gang members in their local schools, and then he started Homeboy Industries as there was little appetite among employers to take on the graduates from his school,” said Bishop Hayes of Fr Greg, while asking people to reflect on and pray for prisoners and their families.
“Fr Greg believes that there is no bad person, only people who have not yet discovered the good within them. His ministry is based on two foundational Gospel messages that everyone is good, as each is made in the image of God; and we all belong to each other.”
Elaborating on these foundational principles, Bishop Hayes said that Fr Greg states that people must see “themselves as good and that we must remove the blindfold of our perceptions to see this goodness in others. He believes that God has a place for each one of us, and he feels called to stand with those gang members, especially at the time of funerals for their fellow members.”
In that regard, Bishop Hayes expressed delight at being able to report the Irish Red Cross has pioneered a year-long certificate training throughout the Irish Prison Service (IPS) called the Community Based Health and First Aid Programme. The course involves the participation of IPS governors, training units, Education Training Boards (ETBs), psychologists and nurses. It is popular with young male prisoners and its success has been emulated by other jurisdictions in Europe.
“Perhaps, building on Father Greg's initiative, members of Irish gangs could be enticed to participate in an Irish model of Homeboy Industries, based on that pioneered in Los Angeles.”