Reflection 237                      Previous reflections                   Resolution                The 16 Documents of Vatican II 

Based on the Vatican 2 document:
On the Mission Activity of the Church
Ad Gentes  - 18

This article speaks about the role of "religious" (members of religious congregations) in the missionary work of the Church

Right from the planting stage of the Church, the religious life should be carefully fostered.

Religious institutes, working to plant the Church, and thoroughly imbued with mystic treasures with which the Church's religious tradition is adorned, should strive to give expression to them and to hand them on, according to the nature and the genius of each nation. Let them reflect attentively on how Christian religious life might be able to assimilate the ascetic and contemplative traditions, whose seeds were sometimes planted by God in ancient cultures already prior to the preaching of the Gospel.

An excellent article on the  cultural assimilation of religious life is this one by Sr Inigo Joachim SSA of India

Jesus, please help religious institutes with assimilation,
you who assimilated into Jewish culture