60th Anniversary of the Establishment of the Diocese of Paisley.
Bishop Philip Tartaglia with His Excellency Archbishop Faustino Sainz Munoz Apostolic Nuncio to Great Britain and Bishop Emeritus of Paisley John Mone.
Solemn Mass on the Occasion of the Solemnity of St Mirin, Patron Saint of the Diocese and The visit of the Apostolic Nuncio to the Diocese of Paisley to Celebrate 60 years of its Establishment.
Entrance procession and Blessing of the people.
Welcome Gift from S6 Pupils of the Diocese.
Consecration at the Solemn Mass on the Occasion of the Solemnity of St Mirin.
Diocese celebrates its 60th birthday
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Paisley celebrating the 60th anniversary of its establishment at a Solemn Mass in St.Mirin's Cathedral Paisley, on Monday 15th September, the Feast of St.Mirin, patron of the Diocese.
Bishop Philip Tartaglia, Bishop of Paisley, preached at the Mass at which the principal celebrant will be Archbishop Faustino Sainz Munoz, the Apostolic (Papal) Nuncio to Great Britain (See note). Bishop Tartaglia welcomed the Apostolic Nuncio to the Cathedral at the beginning of the celebration.
Bishop John Mone, the former Bishop of Paisley, also joined in the celebration as did Archbishop Conti, Archbishop of Glasgow, along with the other Scottish Bishops and Cardinal O'Brien, Archbishop of St.Andrews & Edinburgh.
Bishop Tartaglia invited the priests, religious and people of the Diocese to join in this celebration marking the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the Diocese.
The Diocese of Paisley was established by Pope Pius XII by the Apostolic Constitution 'Maxime Interest', which created two new dioceses: Motherwell and Paisley, from territory of the Archdiocese of Glasgow. The constitution speaks of this being undertaken 'for the good of souls' which has been adopted as the Diocesan motto. The creation of the new dioceses allowed the people to have a closer relationship to their Bishop, the compactness in geographical terms made this particularly the case in Paisley. The move was seen as pastorally advantageous and the resulting history of the Diocese proves the case with the creation of new parishes, the numerous vocations to the priesthood and religious life, successful Catholic schools and the general pastoral life of the parishes.
The Diocese of Paisley is made up of the ancient county of Renfrew with the Cathedral City of Paisley, and the present local authority areas of Renfrewshire, Inverclyde and East Renfrewshire (except for Thornliebank) and is 580 km² (224 square miles) in area making it the smallest diocese by area in Scotland. By population it is the fourth largest diocese in Scotland with 88,000 parishioners in 33 parishes in a general population of 346,000 (25% overall). Contd./
Guests who attended,
LORD LIEUTENANCY
The Lord Lieutenant, Mr.Guy Clark
Deputy Lieutenant, Mr.James Wardrop
CIVIC
The Provost of East Renfrewshire, Councillor Alex Mackie
The Leader of East Renfrewshire Council, Councillor Jim Fletcher
The Provost of Renfrewshire, Councillor Celia Lawson
The Leader of Renfrewshire Council, Councillor Derek McKay
The Provost of Inverclyde, Councillor Michael McCormick
The Leader of Inverclyde Council, Councillor Stephen McCabe
Chief Superintendent John Harkin
ECUMENICAL
Church of Scotland:
The Minister of Paisley Abbey, V.Rev.Alan Birss
The Moderator, Greenock & Paisley Presbytery, Rev.Arthur Sherrat
The Scottish Episcopal Church:
The Rector, Holy Trinity and St.Barnabas Paisley, Rev.Darren McFarland
Paisley Action of Churches Together (PACT):
Mr.Graeme Clark
ACADEMIC
University of the West of Scotland:
Principal and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Seamus McDaid
Reid Kerr College:
Principal and Chief Executive, Mr.Joe Mooney
James Watt College:
Principal, Ms Sue Pinder
Note: The Apostolic Nuncio
Nuncio is an ecclesiastical diplomatic title, derived from the ancient Latin word, Nuntius, meaning "envoy." A Papal Nuncio (officially known as an Apostolic Nuncio) is a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or international organization (e.g., the United Nations), having the rank of an ambassador. The Nuncio also represents the Pope to the churches of the nations he serves, in our case Archbishop Faustino Sainz Muñoz represents the Holy Father to the Catholic Church in England & Wales, and Scotland.
Archbishop Faustino Sainz Muñoz is a native of Almaden, Spain. He entered the Vatican Diplomatic Service in 1970 and since 1988 has served as Nuncio in Cuba, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (offering the nunciature as a place of relief and refuge to those persecuted during the Rwandan Genocide) and to the European Union prior to coming to Great Britain as Nuncio to the Court of St.James's in 2005.
Blessing from the Nuncio.
A Blessing for the Choir during the Recessional hymn,Hail Redeemer King Divine.
Nuncio meets Pupils from the Eight High School's in the Diocese, taking part in the S6 Vocations Conference Tuesday 16th Sept 2008.
His Excellency Archbishop Faustino Sainz Munoz talking to the pupils about his own Vocation and work within the Priesthood and Diplomatic Service.
Bishop Philip Tartaglia and the Apostolic Nuncio with Mgr Gallagher,Mgr Brady and Fr Hannigan.
Pupils from St Luke's,St Stephen's,St Ninian's,St Andrew's,St Benedict's,St Columba's,Notre Dame and Trinity High.
His Excellency Archbishop Faustino Sainz Munoz Celebrates Mass in St Mary's Church Greenock in this its Bicentenary Year
Papal Nuncio Archbishop Faustino Sainz Munoz with Right Rev. Philip Tartaglia Bishop of Paisley and Right Rev. John Mone Bishop Emeritus of Paisley.
Mass is Celebrated by the Bishops along with Priests and people of Inverclyde.
The Nuncio delivers his homily at St Mary's.
A Blessing from the Nuncio to the VIP's & Parishoners.
June & Michelle Molseed and their six children meet the Apostolic Nuncio in the parish hall after the mass.
Parishoners enjoy an informal chat with the Nuncio in the Hall.
Photography By Paul Mc Sherry.
Photographs can be ordered by e-mail pictures@paulmcsherry.co.uk