The Archbishop-designate of Glasgow has caused uproar after he appeared to suggest a young Labour MP died because he was gay.
David Cairns, who was the MP for Inverclyde and was himself a former Catholic priest, died of pancreatitis at the age of 44 in May last year.
Speaking at a conference on religious freedom and equality at Oxford University in April, Bishop Tartaglia said: "If what I have heard is true about the relationship between the physical and mental health of gay men, if it's true, then society is being very quiet about it.
"Recently in Scotland, there was a gay Catholic MP who died at the age of 44 or so, and nobody said anything, and why his body just shut down at that age?
"Obviously he could have had a disease that would have killed anybody.
"But you seem to hear so many stories about this kind of thing, but society won't address it."
While Bishop Tartaglia did not name Cairns in his comments, family and friends said it was clear who he was talking about.
The Bishop's remarks were criticised by Cairns long term partner, Dermot Kehoe, who said his "ignorance and prejudice should not go unchallenged".
"Tartaglia's comments are hate speech. He has position of moral leadership and should not speak from ignorance of the facts," He wrote on Twitter on Wednesday. He added: "Distressing and painful."
Criticising what he called the "homosexual agenda", the Bishop said plans to introduce same-sex marriage in the UK threatened religious freedom.
According to The Scotsman while the Archbishop made the remarks three months ago, Cairns family and friends only became aware of them yesterday.
Kehoe told the paper: “I don’t care what his views on gay marriage are, but to bring in my dead partner to justify those views is wrong.”
And he told BBC radio Scotland's Good Morning Scotland programme today: "The Archbishop elect brought up David Cairns himself. He wasn't asked about him, he chose to bring him up and essentially he implied that David's death was due in some way homosexuality and his being gay.
"This is not only in complete ignorance of the facts in this case."
A spokesman for Tartaglia said: "Responding to a question from an audience member, Bishop Tartaglia agreed that the health risks of same sex behaviour were largely unreported.
"He mentioned the premature death of a young high-profile gay MP in this context. There was no intention to cause offence and he regrets that anyone may have been upset.
In a letter sent to the Bishop, Labour MP Tom Harris, a friend of Cairns, said the remarks had been "hurtful and ill-informed".
"Your public assertion that David’s illness might in some way be connected to his sexuality and lifestyle was not only unsupported by any evidence, but was, I fear, unworthy of your position as a leader in the Church," Harris said.
"Your comments were based on ignorance, not on facts."