From February 26 to March 6, members of the Assumption Family living and working in Eastern Europe (Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey, and Russia) and Israel held their annual meeting in Jerusalem. At the end of their session, which included a retreat and various workshops, they issued a message to the members of the general chapter scheduled to be held in Rome this coming May.

Meeting at St. Peter-in-Gallicantu (Jerusalem) from February 26 to--March 6 for our annual retreat and working session of the Near Eastern Mission, we, the brothers present, wished to address a message to the General Chapter of the Congregation to be held the month of May in Rome.

Dear Brothers,

1. We are writing to you from Jerusalem, where we have just held our annual retreat and work session. Blessed this year with a retreat on the spirituality of Christian East and of  a session on the current challenges facing ecumenical and interreligious dialogue, as well as a time of exchange on issues of the Congregation, not to mention the many visits in the footsteps of Jesus and meetings that a stay in the Holy Land affords, we are keenly aware of  the calendar of the Congregation.
Among upcoming events is the General Chapter: we wanted to make sure to write to you who will be there as delegates in order to speak to you about this Near Eastern Mission with which we have been entrusted and which the last General Chapter retained as one of three "apostolic priorities" of the Congregation (cf. Acts of the General Chapter of 2005, #46-62).

2. We wish to convey to you, first of all, the joy that has been ours inasmuch as the Near Eastern Mission was chosen in  a special way to characterize the work of the Assumption these past six years.
Moreover, this preferential option was not limited to a simple chapter resolution, but subsequently took flesh in many concrete ways: retreats, international sessions and publications, personnel appointments of the Superior general, visits and twinning of communities, not to mention the re-foundation in Bucharest, a project which is now up and running and which received support beyond the Province of France that got it going.

3. At the same time (why should we hide it?), we haven't had enough yet!!!
Were our expectations too great?
Did we overestimate the impact of such decisions by the Chapter?
We thought that this option would make of the Near Eastern Mission the "in thing" of the entire Congregation, both at the level of policy as well as at the level of raising the consciousness of individuals and communities.
We are forced to observe that this has not been the case ---  for the most part. But we aren't giving up: the proof is that we are committed to organize a whole series of events on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of this Mission in 2012... and to invite to this jubilee celebration all our brother Assumptionists and the Oblates Sisters with whom we are happy to  collaborate in almost all of our apostolates here, not to mention all the lay-people who work side by side with us.

4. We are also counting on a modification of our organizational structures, with a view to giving the Near Eastern Mission a framework that will better allow us to strengthen what is common to us within the great diversity that also exists and to solidify the bonds between communities as well as to the rest of the Province and to the entire Congregation.
Since your work will end up producing a new organizational structure for the Congregation,  we are requesting that, in the decisions you make, you pay special attention to the particular status of our situation: that your decisions regarding the Congregation as a whole include a concern for the Near Eastern Mission, details for which would be worked out later.

5. The General Chapter will also be evaluating the formation of religious.
We would like to draw its attention to the particular demands that we see in this regard. No religious should be assigned to the Near Eastern Mission without adequate training: initial formation for young religious drawn to a long-term commitment in these communities and ongoing formation for religious assigned here in the prime of life. 
We would insist especially on intensive language training, on a solid initiation into Eastern Christianity and ecumenism (but also, if need be, into Islam, Judaism, and interreligious dialogue), and on a good knowledge of the social, cultural, and religious realities of the country where one is being sent.  But we underline the discernment that is necessary before assigning candidates to this Mission, since the nature of our particular work, more than in others, requires real qualities of openness, flexibility, and adaptability, not to mention the ability to persevere.

6. Just as in many other regions of the Congregation now, the communities of the Near Eastern Mission are all international, and therefore intercultural --- which means an ongoing effort of these communities to embrace the differences that exist. More than elsewhere, however, this internationality must be seen in the light of the local apostolic and pastoral realities. We are thinking particularly of Moscow and Athens where the worshipping communities are largely made up of an ever-growing number of African and Asian Christians, so much so that we are not able to meet their legitimate needs. Often they arrive in the countries where we serve with considerable social and material needs. It seems to us that reinforcements from other provinces and regions are indispensable if we are to meet these needs. Even as we say this, we have not forgotten the significant generosity of which our Mission has already benefited from other provinces, both in terms of personnel (particularly from Africa) and financial resources. We would like to take this opportunity to thank them all from the bottom of our heart!

7. Together with provincial authorities and commissions we have undertaken a review of all the apostolic projects of each community in the Near Eastern Mission in order to adapt them more adequately to the realities of the societies where we live and the local Churches in which we are involved, as well as to the reality of our present means. We do so keeping in mind the strong desire of Fr. d'Alzon to place our "little Congregation" at the service of the unity of the whole Church.
And we don't do so without a double preoccupation, which without a doubt is shared by all who will attend the General Chapter: first, an "affective and effective" collaboration with the feminine congregations of the Assumption Family – among whom, in the first place as far as our work is concerned, count the Oblates of the Assumption and, second, an ever closer partnership with lay-people who already work side by side with us in the West and whom we must attract in the East.

8. Living in contexts where not only do the divisions between Churches cry out but also where there is very often, more than elsewhere, tension and violence between people, we see how much the vocation of the Assumption, especially in these regions, is to serve as a bridge where so many walls remain or continue to be built.
So we desire – and we invite the entire Congregation to join us ever more intensely – to be artisans of trust in a world of suspicion, of mutual knowledge in a world of ignorance or indifference, of dialogue in a world of misunderstandings, prejudice, and compartmentalization.

9. A glorious inheritance of our forefathers, the Near Eastern Mission is also, as the General Chapter of 2005 stated, a "fascinating adventure for today" (#49).
We enjoy that experience every day, taking measure both of its seductive elements and the many unknowns that still remain before us.
Above all, we make this wish to all of you, brothers who will attend the Chapter, that this Mission remain a vital promise for the entire Congregation: the promise that we never resign ourselves to a humanity torn asunder any more than to a divided Christianity. We pray for you, that your work may assist us in making the Near Eastern Mission, as well as all of the Assumption together,  more than ever an artisan of unity "so that the world may believe" (Jn 17:21).