On one of the final days of his life, Father Guillermo Treviño walked through Vatican City beneath a soft, silvery sky, holding aloft a towering wooden cross.With 100 singing pilgrims following, he led the way, lifting his black cowboy hat high whenever someone strayed.Rev. De Neice Welch, one of the pilgrims also on the trip, said she will never forget the sight of him smiling beneath that brim, guiding them like a shepherd through the heart of the Church he so loved.Guillermo Treviño Jr.Treviño, who was just 39, died in Iowa City on Friday, Oct. 31, a day after he returned from his trip to Rome. He had undiagnosed diabetes, which ultimately led to a stomach perforation that proved fatal, according a Facebook posting by his sister, Mariela Treviño-Luna, who also was with him on the trip to Europe.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementTreviño served as a pastor of the St. Joseph Catholic churches in Columbus Junction and West Liberty, southeast of Iowa City, but he was known statewide for his work as a founding member and chaplain of Escucha Mi Voz Iowa. The group is one of the state's leading advocacy organizations for immigrant rights."From my time as the Bishop of Davenport, I remember his playful and serious sides," Thomas Zinkula, archbishop of Dubuque, the most senior leader of Iowa Catholics, said in a message to the Des Moines Register. "Fr. Guillermo loved movies, Star Wars and professional wrestling. But he also was passionate about serving and advocating for immigrants. I was inspired by his total commitment to seeking justice and mercy for people on that particular margin of society."Father Guillermo Treviño carries a wooden cross through Vatican City on Oct. 23, 2025.Maria Ayala, vice president of Escucha Mi Voz Iowa, expressed her concern for Treviño's loss at a time when immigrants face increasing uncertainty."I don't believe what happened," Ayala said. "We need more people like him to support our hispano-latino community."AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementTreviño had just come back from the Fifth World Meeting of Popular Movements in Rome, where he and Welch represented the Gamaliel National Network, a grassroots organization of nonpartisan, faith-based organizations."Father Treviño was one of the most special people I have ever met," said Welch, senior pastor of Bidwell Street United Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh.She added that a memory she will never forget is when, waiting for dinner one night during the trip, Treviño gathered the contingent from South Africa to play foosball."They were all playing and laughing and joking, and they didn't even speak the same language, but he took control of that situation and invited all these people to just have fun," Welch said.Families of Pascual Pedro and Noel Lopez walk to stand near Fr. Guillermo Trevino during a protest demanding the return and release of each man, respectively, July 29, 2025 near the U.S. Courthouse in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.Born in Moline on the Illinois side of the Quad Cities, Treviño never gave up on people, Deacon David 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.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementTreviño "was a gentle and sweet man, had a booming preachers voice and could effortlessly preach and pray in English and Spanish, switching back and forth with ease," Montgomery said.Father Guillermo Treviño poses outside the Vatican on Oct. 23, 2025.Treviño's first campaign to aid vulnerable people, in 2018, stopped what advocates saw as a measure hostile to homeless people. The Iowa City Council agreed to replace 14 benches in the city's Ped Mall with versions lacking the center armrests that had 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 should pay for it, own up to it."Escucha Mi Voz Iowa held its first organizing meetings in the basements of his churches in 2021, said Montgomery.Pascual Pedro (right), a former West Liberty High School soccer star, stands in a photo in 2024 with Escucha Mi Voz board president, Father Guillermo Treviño. Pedro, 20, was recently detained by ICE officials and deported to his home country of Guatemala.Treviño emerged as a leading figure in the Diocese's outreach to immigrant communities. In 2022, he received the National Cardinal Bernardin New Leadership Award, which recognizes a “young faith-filled Catholic who has demonstrated leadership against poverty and injustice in the United States,” according to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementIn 2023, he helped distribute $1.3 million in pandemic relief checks to meatpacking plant workers and farmworkers, according to Montgomery.He added that one of Treviño's most impactful victories came in 2024, when he helped save the Catholic Campaign for Human Development. The national community organizing grant program that provides $5 million to $10 million in aid annually had come under fire for exceeding its resources and faced attempts to severely scale it back, according to the National Catholic Reporter. The online publication quoted Treviño as saying ahead of a decisive conference of bishops that "pausing grant awards or the annual collection for even one year would cause irreparable harm to the poorest and most marginalized communities in this country."He was continuing his advocacy this year, writing an opinion piece for the Des Moines Register after Pascual Pedro, a West Liberty High Shool graduate, was detained during a routine immigration check-in and deported fewer than two weeks later."As Pascual Pedro’s parish priest and godfather, I am deeply troubled by the recent statements of Sen. Chuck Grassley, Sen. Joni Ernst, and Rep. Ashley Hinson regarding his unjust deportation to Guatemala," he wrote. "We demand leadership. We demand justice. We demand you Bring Pascual Home Now."AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementMost recently, in August , U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent, sat alongside Treviño as he spoke to a crowd on immigration issues at St. Joseph in West Liberty.Sanders on Saturday recalled his experience with Treviño and, in a message to the Register, said he personally mourned his loss.Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) speaks to a crowd on immigration issues on Aug. 22, 2025, at St. Joseph Catholic Church in West Liberty, Iowa."I had the privilege of meeting Fr. Treviño several times," Sanders said. "He was a courageous man who dedicated his life to fighting for dignity and justice for all people. He stood up for the poor, the vulnerable, and the voiceless."His passing is a tremendous loss, but the best way to honor his legacy is to continue his struggle — to stand up, speak out, and confront injustice wherever it exists."AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThai Theodoro is a reporter at The Des Moines Register. Reach her at ttheodoro@gannett.com. Follow her on X, previously Twitter, at @thaiiswriting.This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa's Father Treviño, known for immigrant advocacy, dies at 39