ASCALLINO (ASSELINO, ANSELMO). - A Dominican from Lombardy, known for the embassy entrusted to him by Innocent IV to the Mongols. After the Council of Lyon, the Pope wished to send two expeditions for the conversion of the Tartars: one of Franciscans, led by John of Pian de’ Carpini, and the other of Dominicans, under the leadership of A. After spending some time at San Giovanni d’Acri for better preparation, A., toward the end of 1246, set out with his companions, among whom were Andrew of Longjumeau and Guiscard of Cremona, who were familiar with the country, its customs, and the inhabitants. After fifty days of travel, he met the Tartar general Batu, to whom he delivered the Pope’s message. However, he failed to act with due caution, refusing to kneel before the general as required by protocol and exaggerating the power of the Holy See. This put his life in danger. After a stay of nine weeks, during which the Pope’s ambassadors suffered hunger, thirst, hardships, and insults from those still savage hordes, A. departed, bearing an arrogant reply from the Tartar general to the Pontiff, commanding him to submit to the Great Khan. A. returned to Rome to report on his mission in the autumn of 1248. It is uncertain whether he later returned to the Tartars, as some claim, and suffered martyrdom there, or remained in Italy.
INSTITUTION
A system in which preachers were to travel and preach in all the places of a given region (circuit). In 1771, Wesley himself sent him to the English colonies of America. Upon arrival, he found 600 circuits; at his death, he left 211,000. In 1772, by letter, Wesley appointed him his general assistant for all the circuits in the English colony.
During his leadership, the American circuits became independent of those in England, and without recognizing any higher ecclesiastical rank, but only greater jurisdiction, they changed the name of superintendents to that of “bishops.” The American circuits were then called Episcopal circuits, while the English ones retained the name Wesleyan circuits. A. traveled and preached throughout the regions that at that time constituted the United States; he covered 270,000 miles on horseback and ordained 4,000 ministers. To him is owed the spirit of missionary activity that still permeates American Methodism, and which, over time, led it to found the distinctly anti-Catholic Italian mission.
ASCANIO, NICANORE, Blessed. - A Spanish Franciscan, martyred in Damascus on 10 July 1860. Born in Villarejo de Salvanco (Madrid) on 10 January 1814, he entered the Order in 1830 but was forced to return to the secular life due to the events in Spain in 1835. Later ordained a priest, he served as parish priest of Villarejo and director of the Conceptionist religious community in Aranjuez until 1858, when he was able to re-enter the Order and depart, in the following January, for Damascus. There, during the Druse uprising, he was slaughtered for refusing to apostatize.
He was beatified along with seven companions (v. DAMASCUS, MARTYRS OF) by Pius XI on 10 October 1926.