[3] In 1628 he entered the order of lawyers of Milan and the clerical state; in 1630 he moved to Rome where Pope Urban VIII appointed him referendary of the Tribunals of the Apostolic Signature.

[4] As bishop, Alfonso Litta followed in Saint Charles's footsteps: he convened two diocesan synods, in 1659 and 1669, and made some pastoral visits to the pieves far away from Milan.

[citation needed] During the 1655 invasion of the Duchy of Milan by Thomas Francis of Savoy, Litta organised a militia of 900 armed clerics.

[1] In 1675 Litta moved to Rome in order to participate in the jubilee of that year, and because of health problems and clashes with the Spanish government he was told to resign from the Archbishopric of Milan.

[4] He died in Rome on 28 August 1679, and his remains were buried first in the Roman church of San Carlo al Corso, and later transferred to the north nave of the Cathedral of Milan.