The Right Reverend Philip Tartaglia (b. 11 January 1951, Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

) is the fourth Roman Catholic Bishop

Bishop of Paisley

The Bishop of Paisley is the Ordinary of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Paisley in the Province of Glasgow.The diocese covers an area of and is the smallest by area in Scotland. The see is in the town of Paisley where the seat is located at St Mirin's Cathedral.The diocese was erected on 25 May...

 of Paisley

Diocese of Paisley

The Diocese of Paisley is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church in Scotland. Erected on 25 May 1947 from the Archdiocese of Glasgow the diocese covers the historic county of Renfrewshire and is in area making it the smallest diocese by area in Scotland...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. He has been described as a conservative in religious and moral issues.

Early life

Philip Tartaglia was born in Glasgow, the eldest son of Guido and Annita Tartaglia and has three brothers and five sisters. After his primary schooling at St Thomas’, Riddrie

Riddrie

Riddrie is a north eastern district of Glasgow, Scotland. It lies on the A80 Cumbernauld Road.Riddrie is a residential area mainly consisting of 1930s semi-detached houses, originally built as council housing but now largely privately owned. The former Monkland Canal to the north was filled in the...

, he began his secondary education at St. Mungo's Academy, Glasgow, before moving to the national junior seminary at St. Vincent’s College, Langbank

Langbank

Langbank is a village on the south bank of the River Clyde in Renfrewshire, Scotland. The name is thought to come from ‘long bank’ Langbank is a village on the south bank of the River Clyde in Renfrewshire, Scotland. The name is thought to come from ‘long bank’ Langbank is a village on the south...

 and, later, St Mary’s College, Blairs, Aberdeen

Aberdeen

Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....

. His ecclesiastical studies were completed at the Pontifical Scots College

The Scots College (Rome)

The Scots College in Rome was established by Clement VIII in 1600, when it was assigned the revenue of the old Scots' hospice...

, and the Pontifical Gregorian University

Pontifical Gregorian University

The Pontifical Gregorian University is a pontifical university located in Rome, Italy.Heir of the Roman College founded by Saint Ignatius of Loyola over 460 years ago, the Gregorian University was the first university founded by the Jesuits...

 in Rome.

Priesthood

Fr Philip Tartaglia was ordained

Ordination

In general religious use, ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart as clergy to perform various religious rites and ceremonies. The process and ceremonies of ordination itself varies by religion and denomination. One who is in preparation for, or who is...

 priest

Priest

A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...

 by Archbishop Thomas Winning

Thomas Winning

Thomas Joseph Winning was a Scottish Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Glasgow from 1974 and President of the Bishops' Conference of Scotland from 1985 until his death...

 in the Church of Our Lady of Good Counsel, Dennistoun

Dennistoun

Dennistoun is a district of the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated north of the River Clyde in the east end of the city. It is made up of a number of smaller districts - Milnbank to the north, 'The Drives' in the centre of the area and Bellgrove below Duke Street to the south. In a 2004...

 on 30 June 1975. He then returned to Rome where he completed his ordinary course of studies in 1976 before beginning research for his doctorate in Sacred Theology. In 1978 he was additionally appointed as dean of studies at the Scots College in Rome, and was also acting vice-rector at that time.

After obtaining S.T.D.

Doctor of Sacred Theology

The Doctor of Sacred Theology is the final theological degree in the pontifical university system of the Catholic Church....

 degree in 1980, on the Council of Trent

Council of Trent

The Council of Trent was the 16th-century Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church. It is considered to be one of the Church's most important councils. It convened in Trent between December 13, 1545, and December 4, 1563 in twenty-five sessions for three periods...

’s teaching on the Eucharist

Eucharist

The Eucharist , also called Holy Communion, the Sacrament of the Altar, the Blessed Sacrament, the Lord's Supper, and other names, is a Christian sacrament or ordinance...

, he was appointed assistant priest at Our Lady of Lourdes, Cardonald

Cardonald

Cardonald is an outlying suburb of the Scottish city of Glasgow. Formerly a village in its own right, it lies to the southwest of the city and is bounded to the south by the White Cart Water...

, while at the same time becoming an extramural lecturer at St. Peter’s College, Newlands

Newlands, Glasgow

Newlands is an upmarket district in the Southside of the Scottish city of Glasgow.The area is mainly residential in character. House prices in the area are consistently above the national average, with the average house price for 2006 being around £185 000....

, Glasgow.

A year later, he was appointed lecturer at St. Peter’s College, becoming director of studies in 1983. When Chesters College, Bearsden

Bearsden

Bearsden ) is a town in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland. It lies on the northwestern fringe of Greater Glasgow, approximately from the City Centre, and is effectively a suburb, with housing development coinciding with the introduction of a railway line in 1863, and from where the town gets its name...

, opened in 1985 he was made vice rector. In 1987 he was appointed rector

Rector

The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...

.

He served as rector until 1993 when he was sent to St. Patrick’s, Dumbarton, as assistant priest before being appointed parish priest of St Mary’s, Duntocher

Duntocher

Duntocher is a village in Dunbartonshire, Scotland.Although it is a far older settlement and still considered a village in its own right, it is administratively part of nearby Clydebank along with the neighbouring village of Hardgate and is now part of the West Dunbartonshire local authority area...

 in 1995. In 2004, the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland asked him to return to seminary as rector of the Pontifical Scots College, Rome.

Episcopate

On 13 September 2005, it was announced that Fr Philip Tartaglia had been nominated by Pope Benedict XVI

Pope Benedict XVI

Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...

 as Bishop of Paisley. On 20 November 2005, the Solemnity of Christ the King

Feast of Christ the King

The Feast of Christ the King is the last holy Sunday in the western liturgical calendar, celebrated by the Roman Catholic Church as well as many Anglicans, Lutherans, and other Mainline Protestants.-Origin and history in the Catholic Church:Pope Pius XI instituted the Feast of Christ the...

, he was ordained as Bishop of Paisley in St Mirin's Cathedral

St Mirin's Cathedral

The Cathedral Church of Saint Mirin in Paisley, dedicated to Saint Mirin the patron saint of Paisley, is the mother church of the Catholic Diocese of Paisley and is the seat of the Bishop of Paisley.-History:...

 by Archbishop Mario Conti. The co-consecrating bishops were Archbishop Raymond Leo Burke

Raymond Leo Burke

Raymond Leo Burke is an American Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church. He is the current Cardinal Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, having previously served as Archbishop of St...

 of St Louis, Missouri

Missouri

Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...

, USA and Bishop John Mone

John Mone

The Right Reverend John Aloysius Mone was the third Roman Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Paisley.-Early life:John Mone was fourth of the six children of Arthur Mone and Elizabeth Dunn...

, Emeritus Bishop of Paisley.

In 2006 he attracted controversy for attacking UK law relating to the family. He outlined how the Family Law act (which makes divorce

Divorce

Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...

 quicker and easier), Civil Partnership legislation (giving homosexual relationships legal status) and the Gender Recognition Act (allowing people to change their gender designation) undermine the family in society: "Unfortunately, in our times, the minds of many have been so darkened by hubris and by the selfish pursuit of their own gratification that they have lost sight of the natural law which God has written into his creation...". He reiterated this in 2010 when he wrote to David Cameron

David Cameron

David William Donald Cameron is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Conservative Party. Cameron represents Witney as its Member of Parliament ....

 to insist that "the Catholic Church will not register civil partnerships nor celebrate same-sex unions: not now, not in the future, not ever, no matter what legislation or regulations your government enacts or endorses.". He has also criticised the UK government's decision to upgrade its nuclear weapons capability.

In 2008, as president of the National Communications Commission of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland he wrote to every parish in Scotland decrying the media for pushing a “secular and humanistic agenda”. Arguing his belief that “over two thirds” of Scots are actually Christians, and that the proportion of people who work the media does not reflect this, leading to a “fundamental disconnection between the provider and the consumer”.

In 2008 Bishop Tartaglia was mooted by some commentators as a possible successor to the see of Westminster, albeit with an outside chance. In the event the new appointee was Archbishop Vincent Nichols.

Coat of arms

Bishop Tartaglia's arms are an allusion to the miracle of the loaves and fishes

Feeding the multitude

Feeding the multitude is the combined term used to refer to two separate miracles of Jesus in the Gospels.The First Miracle, "The Feeding of the 5,000" is the only miracle which is present in all four canonical Gospels...

 as recounted in the Gospel of Saint John.
The two apostles Philip

Philip the Apostle

Philip the Apostle was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. Later Christian traditions describe Philip as the apostle who preached in Greece, Syria, and Phrygia....

 and Andrew

Saint Andrew

Saint Andrew , called in the Orthodox tradition Prōtoklētos, or the First-called, is a Christian Apostle and the brother of Saint Peter. The name "Andrew" , like other Greek names, appears to have been common among the Jews from the 3rd or 2nd century BC. No Hebrew or Aramaic name is recorded for him...

 are singled out by name in this account. The two fish which are crossed in saltire

Saltire

A saltire, or Saint Andrew's Cross, is a heraldic symbol in the form of a diagonal cross or letter ex . Saint Andrew is said to have been martyred on such a cross....

 in reference to the cross of St Andrew

Flag of Scotland

The Flag of Scotland, , also known as Saint Andrew's Cross or the Saltire, is the national flag of Scotland. As the national flag it is the Saltire, rather than the Royal Standard of Scotland, which is the correct flag for all individuals and corporate bodies to fly in order to demonstrate both...

 are surrounded by five barley loaves.
One fish has a gold ring in its mouth. This refers to the legend of St Mungo

Saint Mungo

Saint Mungo is the commonly used name for Saint Kentigern . He was the late 6th century apostle of the Brythonic Kingdom of Strathclyde in modern Scotland, and patron saint and founder of the city of Glasgow.-Name:In Wales and England, this saint is known by his birth and baptismal name Kentigern...

 and is featured in Glasgow’s civic and ecclesiastical heraldry since the sixteenth century. This addition alludes to the fact that Philip Tartaglia is a Glaswegian by birth, that he is a former pupil of St Mungo's Academy

St Mungo's Academy, Glasgow

St Mungo's Academy is a Roman Catholic, co-educational, comprehensive, secondary school located in Bridgeton, Glasgow. The school was founded in 1858, in Townhead originally, by the Marist Brothers religious order. The school has a reputation for academic achievement and sporting excellence,...

 and is an ordained priest of the Archdiocese of Glasgow

Archdiocese of Glasgow

The Archdiocese of Glasgow was one of the thirteen dioceses of the Scottish church. It was the second largest diocese in the Kingdom of Scotland, including Clydesdale, Teviotdale, parts of Tweeddale, Liddesdale, Annandale, Nithsdale, Cunninghame, Kyle, and Strathgryfe, as well as Lennox Carrick...

.

Conforming to heraldic

Heraldry

Heraldry is the profession, study, or art of creating, granting, and blazoning arms and ruling on questions of rank or protocol, as exercised by an officer of arms. Heraldry comes from Anglo-Norman herald, from the Germanic compound harja-waldaz, "army commander"...

 rules the colours that feature in the arms – green, white and red – correspond to the Italian Tricolour, in reference to the bishop’s family origins and to the years spent in Rome at the Pontifical Scots College, first as a student and post-graduate, from 1969–1980, and ultimately as rector from May 2004 until November 2005 when he was ordained bishop.

Bishop Tartaglia's motto

Motto

A motto is a phrase meant to formally summarize the general motivation or intention of a social group or organization. A motto may be in any language, but Latin is the most used. The local language is usual in the mottoes of governments...

, taken from the Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

 hymn

Hymn

A hymn is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for the purpose of praise, adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification...

 'O Salutaris Hostia

O Salutaris Hostia

O salutaris Hostia, "O Saving Host", is a section of one of the Eucharistic hymns written by St Thomas Aquinas for the Feast of Corpus Christi. He wrote it for the Hour of Lauds in the Divine Office. It is actually the last two stanzas of the hymn Verbum supernum prodiens, and is used for the...

' by St Thomas Aquinas, is Da Robur, Fer Auxilium ('Give strength, bring aid').