as Archbishop of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh. Tartaglia died on 13 January 2021, two days after his 70th birthday. He had been self-isolating at his home in Glasgow after testing positive for COVID-19 in late December 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom. Views LGBT issues In April 2012, at a conference on religious freedom and tolerance at Oxford University, Tartaglia spoke of the death of "a gay Catholic MP who died at the age of 44", a likely reference to David Cairns, whose death from pancreatitis he said was potentially due to his sexuality. He went on to imply that the connection was being avoided, saying "...nobody said anything... and why his body should just shut down at that age, obviously he could have had a disease which would have killed anyone, but you seem to hear so many stories about this kind of thing, but society won't address it". Cairns's partner Dermot Kehoe criticised Tartaglia for making a claim which was contradicted by the medical evidence, and for adding to the grief suffered by the family of the deceased. He accused Tartaglia of prejudice, homophobia and ignorance and called for him to apologise. Handling of clergy sex abuse In August 2015, Tartaglia commented at a Mass: Coat of arms Tartaglia's arms are an allusion to the miracle of the loaves and fishes as recounted in the Gospel of Saint John. The two apostles Philip and Andrew are singled out by name in this account. The two fish which are crossed in saltire in reference to the cross of St Andrew are surrounded by five barley loaves. One fish has a gold ring in its mouth. This refers to the legend of St Mungo 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 and is an ordained priest of the Archdiocese of Glasgow. Conforming to heraldic 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 an undergraduate and post-graduate student, from 1969 to 1980, and ultimately as rector from May 2004 until November 2005, when he was ordained