Death of immigrant rights leader Father Guillermo Treviño, 39, mourns Iowa and beyond

In some of the last days of his life, Father Guillermo Treviño walks through Vatican City under a soft, sky-high sky, clinging to a long wooden railing.

With 100 Pilgrims following, he led the way, raising his black cowhide hat high when someone turned away.

Rev. DE ANEICE Welch, one of his companions on the trip, said he will never forget seeing him under that pressure, leading them as a shepherd with a heart that is loved by the church.

Treviño, who was only 39, died in Iowa City on Friday, Oct. 31, the day after returning from a trip to Rome. He had undiagnosed diabetes, which eventually led to a stomach ulcer that proved fatal, according to a Facebook post by his sister, Mariela Treviño-Luna, who was also with him on the trip to Europe.

Treviño worked as a pastor at St. Joseph Catholic churches in Columbus Junction and West Liberty, south of Iowa City, but he was known for his work as a founding member and espucha mi Voz Iowa. The group is one of the state’s leading immigration rights organizations.

“During my time as Bishop of Davenport, I remember his playful and serious sides,” Thomas Zizula, the senior leader of the Dubuque, Iowa Catholics, said in a message to the Des Moines Register. “Fr. Guillermo who loved movies, star wars and active warfare. But he also loved working for immigrants and sustained his total dedication to the search for justice and social justice.”

Maria Ayala, Spokesperson for the Vice President of Escucha Mi Voz Ioz, expressed her concern for Treviño’s loss at a time when immigrants are facing increasing uncertainty.

“I can’t believe what happened,” said Ayala. “We need more people like him to support our Hispano-Latino community.”

Treviño had just returned from the fifth national meeting of the popular movement in Rome, where he represented with Welch the national network of Gamaliel, a grassroots organization of nonportsan, organizations based on faith.

“Father Treviño was one of the most special people I’ve ever met,” said Welch, senior pastor of Bidwell Street United Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh.

He added that a memory he will never forget is when, while waiting for dinner one night during the trip, Treviño gathered that controversial object from South Africa to play foosball.

“They were all playing and laughing and joking, and they never spoke the same language, but he took control of that situation and invited all these people to just have fun,” she said.

Ministry Life and Faith in Social Problems

Born in Moline on the Illinois side of the quad cities, Treviño never gave up on people, Desnicon Daving Montgomery, chancellor of the diocese of Davenport, said in an email to the Des Moines Register. He noted that Treviño’s own father, a Mexican citizen, was deported 12 times from the United States.

Treviño “was a gentle and sweet man, he had preachers growing up and they preached and prayed in English and Spanish, they went back and forth,” Montgomery said.

Treviño’s first campaign to help vulnerable people, in 2018, stopped which lawyers were seen as respectful to homeless people. An Iowa city council agreed to replace 14 benches in the city’s PED Mall with versions that lacked the bases of the areas that made them unsuitable for sleeping.

“I believe this is a mistake by the City,” Treviño told the Iowa City Press-Citizen at the time. “And we feel that if you break something you have to pay for it, have it.”

Escucha Mi Voz IOZ Iowa held the first to organize meetings on the sidelines of his classes in 2021, Montgomery said.

Treviño emerged as a leading figure in the discovery of the diocese’s attacks on migrant communities. In 2022, he received the National Carrinal Bernardin New Yourvacship Youth Award, which recognizes “Catholics full of faith who show leadership against poverty and injustice in the United States,” according to the US organization of Catholic Bishops.

In 2023, he helped distribute $1.3 million in pandemic relief for meat-eating plant workers and farm workers, according to Montgomery.

He also added that one of Treviño’s most influential companies enters 2024, when it helps to save the Catholic campaign for human development. The national Community Planning Program that provides $5 million to $10 million in aid annually was on fire for exceeding its resources and according to a national Catholic reporter. The online publication quoted Treviño as saying that in advance of the decisive conference of bishops “deals that offer terms or collections each year can cause serious damage to the country.”

He has continued to be independent this year, writing a piece for the Des Moine Register after Pascual Pedro, who was arrested at immigration and deported in less than two weeks.

“As a Pharisee priest and Pascual Pedro, I am deeply troubled by the recent statements of Sen. Chuck Grassley, Sen. Joni Ernst, and Ashley Hinson regarding his wrongful deportation to Guatemala,” he wrote. “We want leadership. We want justice. We want you to bring Pascual home now.”

More recently, in August, Sennie Sanders, a Bermont independent, sat by Treviño’s side while addressing a crowd about immigration issues in St. Joseph in West Liberty.

Sanders on Saturday recalled his experience with Treviño and, in a message to the Register, said that he himself was sad.

“I had the privilege of meeting Fr. Treviño many times,” Sanders said. “He was a brave person who dedicated his life to fighting for dignity and justice for all people. He stood up for the poor, the vulnerable, the powerless, and the voiceless.

“His passing is a great loss, but the best way to honor his legacy is to continue his struggle – to stand up, speak out, and face it, and face it, and face injustice wherever it is.”

Thai Theodoro is a reporter at Res Moes Register. Reach him at TthoOdo@gannett.com. Follow him on X, formerly on Twitter, at Onethaiiswriting.

This article originally appeared in the Des Moines Register: Iowa father Treviño, known as Fukisana Nao, dies at 39