The Archdiocese of Milan (; ) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Italy which covers the areas of Milan, Monza, Lecco and Varese.
The Archdiocese of Milan is the metropolitan see of the ecclesiastical province of Milan, which includes the suffragan dioceses of Bergamo, Brescia, Como, Crema, Cremona, Lodi, Mantova, Pavia, and Vigevano."Archdiocese of Milano {Milan}" Catholic-Hierarchy.org David M. Cheney. Retrieved February 29, 2016."Metropolitan Archdiocese of Milano" GCatholic.org. Gabriel Chow. Retrieved February 29, 2016. It has long maintained its own Latin liturgical rite usage, the Ambrosian rite, which is still used in the greater part of the diocesan territory.Cesare Alzati, George Guiver, Ambrosianum Mysterium: The Church of Milan and Its Liturgical Tradition (NY: Grove Press 2009). Cappelletti IX, pp. 71-107.
Among its past archbishops, the better known are: Ambrose; Saint Carlo Cardinal Borromeo; Pope Pius XI; and Pope Paul VI.
Milan's archdiocese is the largest in Europe, and the one having the most priests in the world, with, as of 2021, 2,450 priests living in the diocese, among whom 1,712 are secular priests.
History
According to the legend, the Gospel was brought to Milan by the apostle Barnabas,Lanzoni, pp. 1009-1010. and the first Bishop of Milan, Anathalon, was a disciple of that apostle.Savio, p. 25: "Il primo scrittore che parlò di Anatolio fu Paolo Diacono, colla falsa notizia ch'egli fosse discepolo di S. Pietro." Paul the Deacon wrote in the 2nd half of the 8th century. But a diocese cannot have been established there, as such, before 200, as the dioceses of the church evolved from the civil (Roman) dioceses following the reforms of Emperor Diocletian, for the list of the bishops of Milan names only five predecessors of Mirocles, who participated at the Lateran council held in 313 in Rome. During the persecutions of the third and early fourth century, several Christians suffered martyrdom and were venerated at Milan: among them Gervasius and Protasius (first persecution of Diocletian), Victor, Nabor and Felix, and Nazarius and Celsus. The persecutions ended in 313 when the Emperors Constantine I and Licinius issued the Edict of Milan which proclaimed the religious toleration in the Roman Empire.
Among its bishops should be named Eustorgius I and Dionysius, who firmly opposed apostasy imposed by the Roman Emperor Constantius II; Dionysus was exiled to Cappadocia (355). The Arian Emperor Constans, employing violence, then imposed Auxentius on the diocese of Milan. His appointment was bitterly opposed by the orthodox Hilary of Poitiers, who wrote a diatribe In Constantiam, condemning the emperor's actions.Savio, p. 124, with note 4: "Mediolanensem piissimam plebem quam tu furore terroris tui turbasti! Tribuni tui adierunt sancta sanctorum, et viam sibi omni per populum crudelitate pandentes, protraxerunt de altario sacerdotes! Levius te putas, sceleste, Iudaeorum impietate peccasse ? Effuderunt quidem illi Zachariae sanguinem ; sed quantum in te est, concorporatos Christo a Christo discidisti." Auxentius was deposed by a Roman synod of Pope Damasus I in 372. At the death of Auxentius, Ambrose was elected bishop by the people of Milan (374-397).Giovanni Visonà (ed.), Cronologia Ambrosiana. Bibliografia Ambrosiana (1900–2000), , (Milano: Biblioteca Ambrosiana; Roma: Città Nuova Editrice 2004), pp. 23-25.
Among his successors was Bishop Dacius ( 535-552). While Pope Vigilius was on his trip to Constantinople and staying in Sicily, from 545 to 546, he received information that Bishop Decius and some other bishops had broken communion with the patriarch of Constantinople, over the issue of the Three Chapters. In 537 and 538, he lived in Rome, having fled from Milan on account of the Gothic War.Savio, pp. 224-225. At some point between 537 and 546, Bishop Decius made a personal visit to Constantinople. He was in Constantinople again in 550, when he and Pope Vigilius engaged in conversations with the Emperor Justinian. He was in Constantinople with Pope Vigilius, when he died early in 552; his body was repatriated.Savio, pp. 226-227.
Lombards, Greeks, and others During the Lombard invasion, many troubles were inflicted on the church in Milan. The Schism of the Three Chapters guaranteed autonomy of the Milanese Church for 38 years, since the Lombards were enemies of the Byzantines. At the siege of Milan by the Lombard Alboin, the Bishop Honoratus (568) sought refuge in Genoa, with a great number of his clergy, which returned to Milan only 70 years later under John the Good.
On 6 April 1027, Pope John XIX and a Roman council settled the long standing issue of the independence of the diocese of Milan from the aggressions of the diocese of Ravenna.Kehr VI, p. 45, no. 87.
Archbishop Ariberto da Intimiano (1018–1045) was excommunicated and anathematized by Pope Benedict IX on 26 March 1038, due to his stubborn opposition to the Emperor Conrad II.Kehr VI, p. 46, no. 88.
In the 10th century, the archbishops of Milan became a feudatory vassal of the Emperor extending his jurisdiction to all northwest Italy. The most distinguished of these was Ariberto da Intimiano (1018–45). As the power of the burghers grew, that of the archbishops waned, and with it the imperial authority which the prelate represented, and from the 12th century Milan became a Guelph town that fought the Emperor. The archbishop Ottone Visconti in the 13th-century caused himself to be proclaimed perpetual lord, thus putting an end to the Republic of Milan and establishing the power of the House of Visconti who ruled the Duchy of Milan from 1277 to 1447.
On 1 November 1535, Duke Francesco II Sforza died without heir, and the fief revereted to the sovereign, the Emperor Charles V, who had reconquered Milan from the French in 1525 at the Battle of Pavia. In 1540, he granted Milan to his son, Philip.Agostino Borromeo, "Archbishop Carlo Borromeo and the Ecclesiastical Policy of Philip II in the State of Milan," in: J.M. Hedley & J.B. Tomaro (edd.), San Carlo Borromeo and Ecclesiastical Politics in the Second Half of the Sixteenth Century (Washington DC: Folger Shakespeare Library 1988), pp. 85-86.
Attempts at reform
During the brief reign of Pope Stephen IX (1057–1058), who was the brother of the duke of Lorraine, Archbishop Guido of Milan held a synod in the diocese of Novara, in a place called ad Fontanetum, where the leaders of the Patari, Arialdus and Landulfus, were excommunicated. They had been promoting a reform of the clergy in the diocese, which was directed particularly against the widespread Milanese custom of clerical marriage. The uproar in Lombardy was so severe that Archbishop Guido travelled secretly to Rome, to obtain the active support of the pope. He was severely disappointed, as many in the papal court were committed reformers. Pope Stephen removed the excommunication of Arialdus.C. J. Hefele, Histoire des conciles (tr. Leclercq) Vol. 4, part 2 (Paris: Letouzey 1911), pp. 1126-1127.
At the accession of Pope Nicholas II in 1058, the people of Milan, at their own request, were sent an Apostolic Visitator, Cardinal Peter Damiani, to restore order in their church, which was filled with simony and priestly concubinage.Bonizo of Sutri, "Liber Ad Amicum," Book VI [Monumenta Germaniae Historica Libelli de lite (Hannover: Hahn 1891), vol. 1, p. 593: "His ita gestis, Normannis Apuliam remeantibus, legati Mediolanensium orant papam, ut eorum ecclesie funditus desolate misereretur. Huius réi gratia confestim venerabilis pontifex misit Petrum Damiani Hostiensem episcopum, virum omni scientia preditum, qui prefatam Mediolanensemh visitaret ecclesiam. Qui eo veniens magna cum discretione ea, que destructa invenerat, reedificabat." Archbishop Guido da Velate (1045–1071) was summoned to the synod held by Pope Nicholas in Rome in April 1059. The principal topic of discussion was simony, and Guido was among many who were accused. He was able to escape from the attack.Ughelli IV, pp. 111-112. J.D. Mansi, Sacrorum Conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio, editio novissima , Vol. 19 (Venice: A. Zatta 1764), pp. 907, 910. Bonizo of Sutri, pp. 593-594: "Sed non longo post tempore congregavit prefatus pontifex synodum, in qua Guido Mediolanensis episcopus volens nolens sedisse cogentibus Paterinis cognoscitur, ducens secum cervicosos tauros, Longobardos episcopos, id est Cunibertum Taurinensem et Giselmum Astensem et Benzonem Albensem et Gregorium Vercellensem et Ottonem Novariensem et Opizonem Laudensem et Aldemannum Brixinensem a. Quibus omnibus in eadem synodo preceptum est, ut sacerdotes et levitas concubinatos ab altaris arcerent officio. Erga symoniacos vero nullam b misericordiam habendam esse decreverunt." C.J. Hefele, Histoire des conciles (tr. Delarc) Vol. 6 (Paris: Adrien Le Clere 1871), pp. 324-325. He was finally caught and, in 1064, he was suspended from office by Pope Alexander II (1061–1073); in early 1066, he was excommunicated.Kehr, Italia pontificia VI, pp. 47-48, nos. 95-99.
After Archbishop Guido was excommunicated, the Emperor Henry IV attempted to take advantage of the situation and had his nominee, Gotofredo da Castiglione, a canon of the cathedral, elected Archbishop while Guido was still alive.Ughelli IV, p. 114. Savio, p. 438. Pope Alexander condemned his election.Kehr IV, p. 49, no. 100.
Borromeo and the synod system The figure who marked the modern history of the church of Milan was Charles Borromeo, archbishop of Milan from 1564 to 1584,Giovanni Pietro Giussano, The Life of St. Charles Borromeo, Cardinal Archbishop of Milan, Volume 1 (London: Burns & Oates 1884); Volume 2. who was a leading figure during the Counter-Reformation and was responsible for significant reforms in the Catholic Church. He held eleven diocesan synods: in August 1564, 4 August 1568, 1772, 16 November 1774, 1778, 1779,Acta Ecclesiae Mediolanensis a S. Carolo Card. Archiep. Condita. Volume 1 (Milan; Paolo Pagnonio 1843), pp. 365-465. Borromeo was in Rome in 1772, and did not participate in the III Diocesan Synod; his place was taken by his Vicar-General, Giovanni Battista Castellio.
Cardinal Carlo Borromeo also held six provincial synods, meeting in the cathedral of Milan. The bishops of the province,The fourth synod was attended by the bishops of Lodi, Brescia, Cremona, Bergamo, Asti, Casale, Alessandrina, Vercelli, Alba Pompeia, Ventimiglia, and Novara; the bishops of Dertona, Acqui, and Savona did not attended, but were represented by procurators (Acta p. 204). as well as the canons of the cathedrals and of the collegiate churches, were expected to attend. The first took place in 1565; the second in 1569; the third in 1573; the fourth in 1576; the fifth in 1579; the sixth in 1582; a seventh was planned, but he died in 1584.Acta Ecclesiae Mediolanensis a S. Carolo Card. Archiep. Condita. Volume 1 (Milan; Paolo Pagnonio 1843), pp. 3-61; II: pp. 65-86; III: pp. 87-114; IV: pp. 117-210; V: pp. 211-304; VI: pp. 305-336. His immediate successor, Cardinal Gaspare Visconti (1584–1595), continued Borromeo's practice, with a diocesan synod of 1586, another in 1587, a third in 1589, and again in 1590, and in 1591, and finally a sixth in 1593.Silvino da Nadro, OFMCap, Sinodi diocesani italiani, (Città del Vaticano: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana 1960), pp. 64, 67, 72, 75, 78, 84.