According to the legend, the
Gospel was brought to Milan by the apostle
Barnabas, and the first Bishop of Milan,
Anathalon, was a disciple of that apostle. 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. Historically, the Milanese church has been in full communion with the
Papacy. 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), while the Romans put
Auxentius on the episcopal throne of Milan. At the death of Auxentius,
Ambrose was elected bishop by the people of Milan (374-97). Among his successors,
Simplicianus,
Senator and
Dacius (530-52), who lived almost always in exile at
Constantinople on account of the
Gothic War. During the
Lombard invasion, many things happened to 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. In the 10th century, the archbishops of Milan became
feudatory 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. The figure who marked the modern history of the church of Milan was
Charles Borromeo, archbishop of Milan from 1564 to 1584, who was a leading figure during the
Counter-Reformation and was responsible for significant reforms in the Catholic Church. His pastoral efforts were followed also by his successors, such as
Federico Borromeo (died 1631) and
Giuseppe Pozzobonelli (died 1783). In the 20th century, two Cardinal Archbishops of Milan were elected to the papacy: in 1922, Cardinal Achille Ratti was elected as
Pope Pius XI, and in 1963 Cardinal Giovanni Battista Montini was elected as
Pope Paul VI. The church of Milan was governed from 1979 to 2002 by Cardinal
Carlo Maria Martini, who had been a favorite of the Catholic left. ==Present leadership==