Ernesto Cofiño
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Ernesto Cofiño (June 5, 1899 – October 17, 1991) was a Guatemalan physician. He was a
pioneer Pioneer commonly refers to a settler who migrates to previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited land. In the United States pioneer commonly refers to an American pioneer, a person in American history who migrated west to join in settling and dev ...
in pediatric research in
Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...
. He founded hospitals, was director of Caritas de Guatemala, and promoted youth development. Having died with a reputation for sanctity, his cause of beatification was granted a nihil obstat by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints on July 7, 2000.


Life and works

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 The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is an American professional association of pediatricians, headquartered in Itasca, Illinois. It maintains its Department of Federal Affairs office in Washington, D.C. Background The Academy was founded ...
and the French Language Association of Pediatrics. He was involved in several medical positions. *Sanatorio Antituberculoso Infantil in San Juan Sacatepéquez (Children's Antituberculosis Hospital) - Founder (1942) *Unidad Asistencial de San Juan (St. John Assistantial Unit) - Founder (1946) *Centro Educativo Asistencial (formerly Hospicio Nacional) - Director from 1951 to 1955 *Sociedad Protectora del Niño (Society for the Protection of children) - Director (1940–1946) *Lucha Nacional contra la Tuberculosis (National Fight against Tuberculosis) - Director (1945–1946) *Asociación de Guarderías Infantiles de Bienestar Social - Interventor (1954) *Caritas de Guatemala - Director for 3 years. Organized the distribution of food for 90,000 from the poor villages *Instituto Interamericano del Niño (Interamerican Institute for the Child)- Guatemalan Delegate (1945–1955) *Fundación para el Desarrollo Integral (FUDI), a help to the victims of the earthquake of 1971, now the organizer of Centro de Formación Rural Utz Samaj - Cofounder In 1945, he founded together with others the Pediatric Association of Guatemala. For the youth, he promoted the following: *Centro Universitario Ciudad Vieja - First Rector (1958) *Instituto Femenino de Estudios Superiores (IFES) *Residencia de Estudiantes Verapaz *Centro de Formación Profesional para la Mujer Junkabal *Centro Educativo Técnico Laboral Kinal 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 Opus Dei, formally known as the Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei ( la, Praelatura Sanctae Crucis et Operis Dei), is an institution of the Catholic Church whose members seek personal Christian holiness and strive to imbue their work an ...
. 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." 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. Within the Catholic faith, he may be referred to as "Ernesto Cofiño, Servant of God".


Sources and external links


Opening of Cause of Beatification
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cofino, Ernesto People from Guatemala City Opus Dei members Guatemalan anti-abortion activists Guatemalan surgeons Guatemalan pediatricians University of Paris alumni Academic staff of Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala 1991 deaths 1899 births Guatemalan activists Guatemalan Roman Catholics Roman Catholic activists 20th-century surgeons Guatemalan expatriates in France Venerated Catholics by Pope Francis