About Father Chris Riley

Father Christopher Riley, known more commonly as Fr Chris Riley is a Roman Catholic Priest born on the 24th of November 1954 in Eucha, Victoria. He was the middle child of 3, and he spent his childhood growing up on a dairy farm. In 1973 he graduated from a school run by Salesians (the name for as school run by Roman Catholic Salesian Congregation of Saint John Bosco), however by the age of 15 he had already decided he was going to be a priest for disadvantaged children who had no one else for them. It is well known that his inspiration came from the film from 1938, Boys Town. After becoming a Salesian Priest he joined the charity Boys Town, and his roles included teacher, youth worker, probation officer and residential care worker before finally becoming principal of charity. In 1991, he left Boys Town to set up many numbers of charities, the most successful being YOTS (youth off the streets). 6 years after leaving Boys Town he opened Key College, a high school opened for homeless people in Redfern in Sydney. In 2006 he was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia, for all of his service for homeless a youth with disadvantaged lives. Fr Chris Riley also received the Human Rights Medal later that year. In 2012 he was nominated and won Australian of the Year, probably his greatest medal achievement. (Thebottomlinetv.com.au, 2016)