Sunday, May 20, 2012

Straight-talking leader to fight the Catholic corner

Last autumn he dealt the Scottish Government a blow as it attempted to force through its Offensive Behaviour at Football Bill to outlaw sectarian chanting at and around football games.

The Bishop of Paisley undid much of First Minister Alex Salmond's efforts to court the Catholic Church when he warned of a "serious chill" between the Catholic community and the SNP Government over the bill.

The church leader accused ministers of showing "an indecently hasty desire to enact legislation" while they were refusing to quantify the extent of Scotland's sectarianism problem by not releasing prosecution statistics for sectarian behaviour.

He also detected "growing apprehension and disappointment on the part of many in the Catholic community at the direction your [Salmond's] government is taking".

Bishop Tartaglia is likely to be tasked with leading Scotland's largest congregation of Catholics after Archbishop Mario Conti steps down by the end of June. 

As "one of Benedict's men", his views on moral issues and church teaching will be orthodox. He will be the man most likely to "fight the Catholic cause within the public discourse", one associate said.

Despite a working-class background, most likely from a Labour-supporting family, The Herald understands he is not party political. "Don't expect rallying calls for or against independence or nationalisation of the banks," said one source.

Born in Glasgow and raised in Dennistoun, Bishop Tartaglia is the eldest son of Guido and Annita Tartaglia and one of nine children. He was educated at St Mungo's Academy before moving to the national junior seminary at St Vincent's College, Langbank, and, later, St Mary's College, Blairs, Aberdeen.

He was ordained priest by Archbishop Thomas Winning in the Church of Our Lady of Good Counsel, his local church in Dennistoun, in June 1975.

In September 2005, it was announced that Father Tartaglia had been nominated by Pope Benedict XVI as Bishop of Paisley and was ordained in St Mirin's Cathedral by Archbishop Conti two months later.

In 2008, he was mooted by some commentators as an outside bet as successor to the see of Westminster before Archbishop Vincent Nichols was appointed.

Unlike Archbishop Conti, he is not known as an Italophile with a deep appreciation of arts and culture, and has been described to The Herald as "a logical, straight-talking Glasgow man who likes his football".

His brother Gerard is also a Monsignor in Clydebank and is tipped for a promotion in the current wave of changes.

But according to one source, Bishop Tartaglia was very unwell just before he went to Scots College in Rome. The source said: "Some thought he wouldn't survive his heart trouble. If he becomes Scotland's leading churchman, and perhaps even the UK's, it could take a terrible toll. He would become public enemy number one with the usual suspects of assorted Catholic bashers, and his family are worried about what the stress would bring."

Leading historian Professor Tom Devine said: "Tartaglia will bring intelligence. Having interacted with him, he's shrewd and demonstrates an intellectual capacity not common throughout the church hierarchy. He may not be as streetwise as Tom Winning but has the intellectual capability and humility necessary for the medium-term future of the Catholic church in Scotland. He also needs to consult. The waves from Ireland demonstrate bishops need to be aware of different views, expectations, opinions and tensions within their flocks. Absolutism no longer works."