Ernesto Cofiño (June 5, 1899 – October 17, 1991) was a Guatemalan Catholic physician. He was a pioneer in pediatric research in Guatemala. He founded hospitals, was director of Caritas de Guatemala, and promoted youth development. On December 14, 2023, Pope Francis approved Cofiño's practice of heroic virtues and declared him Venerable.[1]
Ernesto Guillermo Cofiño was born in Guatemala City on June 5, 1899. He married in 1933 Clemencia Samayoa Rubio, and raised five children. He lived as a widower for 25 years, helping raise 21 grandchildren.
In 1919, he started his studies at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Sorbonne, France. In 1929 he graduated as a surgeon.
Cofiño was the first University Professor of Pediatrics in the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala medical school, where he taught for 24 years. He was a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the French Language Association of Pediatrics.
He was involved in several medical positions.
In 1945, he founded together with others the Pediatric Association of Guatemala.
For the youth, he promoted the following:
He was also much involved in the movement to outlaw abortion, considered "one of the founders of the pro-life campaign" in Guatemala.
In 1956 he requested admission to Opus Dei. Through this, he was said to have learned how to sanctify his work, "imbuing his exquisite social sensibility and his great professional sense with an urgent zeal for the rechristianization of society."[2]
When he was 80 years old, he was diagnosed with cancer in the jaw. He continued working until he finally succumbed to a resurgence of the cancer when he was 92.
Cofiño's cause for canonization was opened after his death. On December 14, 2023, Pope Francis approved Cofiño's practice of heroic virtues and declared him Venerable.[3]