Brother Constantine Koser, Minister General of the Order of Friars Minor from November 3, 1965 until Pentecost of 1979, died at 22:30 (Brazil time - 1:30 European time) on December 19, 2000, in the Convent of the Friars in Petropolis where he was residing. Brother Constantine was born on May 9, 1918 in Curitiba in the State of Paraná in Brazil. He soon entered the seminary of the Franciscan Province of the Immaculate Conception where he received his secondary education and made his philosophical and theological studies. He made his novitiate in the civil year of 1935 and was admitted to temporary profession on December 20, 1935 and pronounced his solemn vows on May 10, 1939. He was ordained to the priesthood on July 12, 1941. He was designated for higher academic studies in theology. However, he was asked to replace for some years the professor of dogmatic theology who died unexpectedly. From 1951 until 1953 he did specialized studies in theology at the University of Brotherburg in Germany and defended his thesis summa cum laude on May 22, 1953. He returned to Petropolis to lecture at the Franciscan Institute of Theology conducted by the Province of the Immaculate Conception in Brazil. Besides being professor of theology, he was Director of the Department of Catechetics for the Diocese of Petropolis. There he founded the Course of Introductory Theology for Religious, the first of its kind in Brazil, which continued up to the post-Conciliar years when it gave way to the official course of theology for religious and laity. He took part in the whole theological movement regarding the Assumption and in the various congresses which preceded the proclamation of the Dogma. He was present in Rome for the Proclamation of the Dogma of the Assumption on November 1, 1950. In January of 1956 he organized and presided at the first theological congress in Brazil in Salvador da Bahia. In July of 1956 he was elected Definitor of his Province, a position to which he was re-elected in January of 1959. He received the title of "Lector generalis" from the Order in July of 1958. In the same month and year he was named a member of the Pontifical International Marian Academy. In May of 1963 he was elected Definitor General for Latin America. While in Rome he took part in the theological meetings of the Brazilian Bishops during the Second Vatican Council. Also during the Council he was personal consultant for the then Minister General of the Order, Fr. Augustine Sepinski, who was a Conciliar Father. On November 3, 1965, upon the nomination of Fr. Augustine Sepinsk as Bishop and Apostolic Nuncio, the General Definitorium elected Brother Constantine Koser Vicar General of the Order to complete the term of Archbishop Sepinski. He was a Conciliar Father for the Fourth Session of the Council. During the General Chapter in Assisi in May of 1967 he was elected Minister General. Having been elected by the Union of Superiors General, he participated in the Synods of 1967 (the first), 1974 and 1977. He convoked, prepared and presided at the Extraordinary General Chapter of the Order at Medellin (Colombia) in 1971. During the General Chapter in Madrid in 1973 he was re-elected Minister General. To commemorate the 750th anniversary of the Death of Saint Francis, he called and presided at the Extraordinary General Chapter in Assisi in 1976 Upon the appointment by the Holy Father he participated with voice and vote in the Meeting of the Episcopal Conferences of Latin America in Puebla (Mexico) in 1979. His second term as Minister General ended during the General Chapter celebrated in Assisi at Pentecost of 1979. He returned to his Province and took up residence in Petropolis where he again engaged in a great activity as lecture and moderator of general chapters for congregations of religious. After he experienced a severe decline in his health, he was forced to curtail his activity more and more until the point that he could no longer accept any appointments. He was the author of various books, together with his encyclicals as Minister General. Especially noteworthy are Franciscan Thought, Our Life with God, As I see the Order Today which have been translated into all the modern languages. His unedited manuscripts total about 15 thousand typed pages - his diaries and the fruit of his meditations and reflections. He received honorary doctorates from four universities. His body laid in state all day on December 20 in the Church of the Sacred Heart in Petropolis and was buried that evening in the Franciscan Mausoleum. Message by the Minister General

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