Rome, April, 2007.  The Preparatory Commission, in charge of preparing the Instrumentum Laboris (working paper) for the XIII General Assembly of PIME (Ariccia, May 6 - June 7, 2007), carried out its work at the Generalate in Rome.  The members of the Commission (Fr. Alberto Zamberletti, Fr. Giuseppe Marchesi, Fr. Giorgio Licini, Fr. Gianni Criveller) met for the first time on April 12 under the direction of Fr. Luigi Bonalumi, Vicar General, with guidance from Fr. Gian Franco Poli, a professor at the Claretian University who was invited to facilitate the work of the General Assembly according to the directions of the 2005 Plenary Council.  The first week was dedicated to the work of synthesizing the responses from the various circumscriptions and individuals.  The result was a document, logically structured but which remains a point of departure, divided in two parts.  The first part groups the observations according to geographical areas (Asia-Oceania, Africa, Americas, Italy), as well as the different proposals, which are sometimes at odds.  The second part offers a synthesis and proposals for discussion regarding six principal topics: evangelization, life in the circumscriptions, initial formation, formation and overall health, collaboration of the laity in evangelization, the means of social communication.  Some topics in particular were frequently mentioned in the reports from the circumscriptions: pastoral work and first evangelization, initial formation, continuing formation, mentoring young missionaries in the field, lay missionaries.  The Instrumentum Laboris is meant to offer a useful starting point for the work and the discussions of the XIII General Assembly.  In addition, other elements will enter into the picture: the reports of the Circumscription Superiors and of the General Superior, the Financial Report of the General Treasurer, further personal reflections and proposals which may arrive at the Secretariat of the General Assembly in time to be useful, and of course the discussions during the Assembly itself.