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History

The Collegio di Santa Maria della Misericordia in Ascona, better known as Collegio Papio - after the name of its first benefactor, the Asconese and Roman citizen Bartolomeo Papio - represents, as a whole of the private schools of the Canton Ticino, the institute of the most ancient educational tradition.

Bartolomeo Papio (1526-1580) from Ascona declared in his will his desire to found the college. It was a Papal College until 1965, when the Holy See donated the College to the Diocese of Lugano.

From its foundation to the end of the eighteenth century

Cardinal Carlo Borromeo, Archbishop of Milan, was the executor of the will of Bartolomeo Papio and made use of the work of Tibaldo Pellegrini for the architectural construction of the new college. Between 1585 and 1602, Pellegrini completed the construction of the cloister and the college, next to the pre-existing church of Santa Maria della Misericordia, whose foundation stone was laid on 15 November 1399 and consecrated on 23 October 1442.

Up until 1798, the College of Ascona was run by the Milanese Oblates of Saints Ambrogio and Carlo, who traditionally ran two distinct schools: an internal one, a small seminary for pupils who wanted to follow their ecclesiastical vocation, and another external one, for lay pupils in Ascona and Locarno.

From the French Revolution to the beginning of the twentieth century

The Milanese Oblates left the College at the end of 1798. When the Helvetic Republic was established, the College became a public school for a year (1800-1801). But at the end of that year, the Helvetic government authorised the parish priests of Ascona retake possession the school. In the years that followed, the College faced a variety of adventures: it was run by the Ascona parish priests, by Ticino priests and by lay people, passing from under the patronage of the Archbishops of Milan to the Bishops of Como (1821).

In 1852, the radical cantonal government confiscated ecclesiastical assets from the College: most of the Archive documents were lost, furniture and even the silverware from the church were stolen, a personal gift from Cardinal Federigo Borromeo, who had been the College's first great legislator.

During this time (1852-1878), under the management of various lay people, the College was a public middle school, a girls' school and a Swiss Institute of Languages and Commerce, with mixed fortunes.

On establishing the Apostolic Administration of Ticino in 1885 (Diocese of Lugano since 1971), Pope Leo XIII entrusted the College, which in the meantime had returned under the management of a Ticino parish priest, Don Alessandro Verda, to the Apostolic Administrators (Bishops) of Lugano.

Two religious orders subsequently ran the college: the Salesians from 1894 to 1910 and the Assumptionists from 1910 to 1917.

The Benedictine period (1924-1964)

After a brief period of significant neglect and decay, from 1924 to 1964 the Benedictines of Einsiedeln were called upon by Bishop Aurelio Bacciarini to bring the College back to life.

The College enjoyed a period of great cultural vitality under their governance with the addition of high school courses to the middle school studies, which aimed to award the Federal Leaving Certificate (the Swiss "Matura"). The first session was held in 1933 in Ticino (Locarno), on the decision of the Federal Council.

The diocesan period

When the Benedictines completed their assignment, Bishop Angelo Jelmini handed over the running of the Institute to the Diocesan Clergy (1964) and the Holy See donated the College's property to the Apostolic Administration of Ticino (1965).

Since then, the College has adapted its premises to on-going educational changes; it introduced more lay professors; introduced male and female pupils into all classes; it maintained its boarding facilities, mostly for high school classes; it built a modern sports centre and completely renovated its logistical premises by constructing a new building, inaugurated on October 18, 1996.

Currently, the College consists of a four-year middle school and a four-year high school which prepares pupils to take the Swiss high school leaving certificate exam.