On 29 October 2014, Archbishop Tartaglia presided at the funeral Mass for Mgr. Hugh Boyle, a long-serving priest of the Archdiocese, who was well-known and well regarded both in the Archdiocese and beyond. The funeral Mass was held in St. Andrew’s Cathedral where Mgr. Boyle had been Administrator in the 1980s, and the Archbishop was joined by numerous priests from the Archdiocese and elsewhere, and by Archbishop Emeritus Conti and Bishop Peter Moran, the Bishop Emeritus of Aberdeen, both of whom had been in seminary with Mgr. Boyle.
The music of the liturgy was led by the St. Mungo Singers and was wide ranging, from the plainchant Requiem Aeternam, Agnus Dei and In Paradisum, to Fr. Frank Duffy’s setting of Psalm 129, the Taizé “Eat this Bread”, and the Mozart Ave Verum, as well as familiar hymns, finishing with the Lourdes hymn “Immaculate Mary”.
In his homily, Archbishop Tartaglia extended his sympathy to Mgr. Hugh’s family. We should all take comfort, he said, from the amazing hope expressed in the First Reading from the Book of Job, and we should pray that Mgr. Hugh would be granted the vision of God for which Job prayed.
Mgr. Hugh was ordained in 1962 in the Lateran Basilica in Rome. He had served as a priest for 52 years in many parishes of the Archdiocese. The second strand of his service to the Church in Scotland arose from his interest in and talent for history and administration. These had been recognised and he had served as, among other positions, Chancellor for the Archdiocese of Glasgow, the Registrar for Deceased Clergy in Scotland, and the editor of the Western Catholic Calendar and the Catholic Directory for Scotland. He had held these latter positions for many years – indeed had been the longest serving editor – until 2006.
At the end of the funeral Mass
Latterly Mgr. Hugh’s health had declined and he had been cared for by the Little Sisters at Robroyston. Archbishop Tartaglia observed that the cross was an integral part of the life of every priest but for them and us it should be the sign of salvation, with the hope that Mgr. Hugh would now be hearing those beautiful words “Today, you will be with me in paradise”.
