James Francis Stafford (born July 26, 1932) is an American

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. He served as major penitentiary of the

Apostolic Penitentiary The Apostolic Penitentiary (), formerly called the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Penitentiary, is a dicastery of the Roman Curia and is one of the three ordinary tribunals of the Apostolic See. The Apostolic Penitentiary is chiefly a tribu ...

from 2003 to 2009. He previously served as president of the

Pontifical Council for the Laity The Pontifical Council for the Laity was a pontifical council of the Roman Catholic Curia from 1967 to 2016. It had the responsibility of assisting the Pope in his dealings with the laity in lay ecclesial movements or individually, and their co ...

(1996–2003), archbishop of the

Archdiocese of Denver The Archdiocese of Denver ( la, Archidiœcesis Denveriensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or diocese of the Catholic Church that encompasses northern Colorado. It is part of the XIII Conference Region and includes 113 parishes, 3 ...

(1986–1996), bishop of the

Diocese of Memphis In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associat ...

(1982–1986), and as an auxiliary bishop of the

Archdiocese of Baltimore The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Baltimore ( la, link=no, Archidiœcesis Baltimorensis) is the premier (or first) see of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church in the United States. The archdiocese comprises the City of Baltimore and nine of Mar ...

(1976–1982). Stafford was made a cardinal by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

in 1998.

Biography

Early life

James Stafford was born in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, the only child of Francis Emmett and Mary Dorothy (née Stanton) Stafford. His father was the owner of a furniture store, which had been opened by his grandfather (an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

immigrant) in 1902. James Stafford was raised in Irvington, a Baltimore neighborhood, and graduated from Loyola High School in Towson, Maryland, in 1950. Stafford then entered Loyola College Maryland in Baltimore, planning a career in medicine. However, in 1952, the death of a close friend in a car crash caused Stafford to rethink his future and to enter St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore. Stafford attended St. Mary's Seminary for two years. Archbishop Francis Keough then sent him to the

Pontifical North American College The Pontifical North American College (NAC) is a Catholic Church, Roman Catholic educational institution in Rome, Italy, that prepares seminarians to become priests in the United States and elsewhere. The NAC also provides a residence for Pri ...

and the

Pontifical Gregorian University The Pontifical Gregorian University ( it, Pontificia Università Gregoriana; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana,) is a higher education ecclesiastical school ( pontifical university) located in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as ...

in Rome.

Priesthood

While in Rome, Stafford was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Baltimore by Bishop Martin O'Connor on December 15, 1957. He earned a

Licentiate of Sacred Theology Licentiate in Sacred Theology ( la, Sacrae Theologiae Licentiatus; abbreviated STL) is the second of three ecclesiastical degrees in theology (the first being the Baccalaureate in Sacred Theology and the third being the Doctorate in Sacred Theol ...

from the Gregorian University in 1958. After his return to Baltimore, Stafford was assigned an assistant

pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in Baltimore, remaining there until 1962. He then entered the

Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution of higher education founded by U.S. ...

in Washington, D.C., where he earned a

Master of Social Work The Master of Social Work (MSW) is a master's degree in the field of social work. It is a professional degree with specializations compared to Bachelor of Social Work (BSW). MSW promotes macro-, mezzo- and micro-aspects of professional social wor ...

degree in 1964 with a thesis on the

foster care Foster care is a system in which a minor has been placed into a ward, group home (residential child care community, treatment center, etc.), or private home of a state-certified caregiver, referred to as a "foster parent" or with a family mem ...

of children. From 1964 to 1966, Stafford served as assistant director of the archdiocesan

Catholic Charities The Catholic Church operates numerous charitable organizations. Catholic spiritual teaching includes spreading the Gospel, while Catholic social teaching emphasises support for the sick, the poor and the afflicted through the corporal and spir ...

and assistant pastor of St. Ann Parish in Baltimore. He was named in 1966 as director of the Archdiocesan Catholic Charities by Cardinal

Lawrence Shehan Lawrence Joseph Shehan (March 18, 1898 – August 26, 1984) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Baltimore from 1961 to 1974 and was made a cardinal in 1965. Shehan was an advocate for civil rights an ...

, serving in that position for ten years. In 1970,

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City, Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his ...

named Stafford as a

chaplain of his holiness A Chaplain of His Holiness is a priest to whom the Pope has granted this title. They are addressed as Monsignor and have certain privileges with respect to ecclesiastical dress and vestments. He was elected president of the Presbyteral Senate for the archdiocese the following year. Stafford also helped reorganize the central services of the archdiocese and create its collegial structures.

Auxiliary Bishop of Baltimore

On January 11, 1976, Paul VI appointed Stafford as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Baltimore and

titular bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of Respecta He was consecrated on February 29, 1976, by Archbishop William Borders, with Cardinal Shehan and Bishop Thomas Murphy serving as

co-consecrators A consecrator is a bishop who ordains someone to the episcopacy. A co-consecrator is someone who assists the consecrator bishop in the act of ordaining a new bishop. The terms are used in the canon law of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Churches, ...

, at the

Cathedral of Mary Our Queen The Cathedral of Mary Our Queen is a Catholic cathedral located in northern Baltimore, Maryland. The structure, remarkable in size, was completed in 1959. The cathedral is the seat of the Archbishop of Baltimore, joining the Basilica of the Nati ...

in Baltimore. Stafford selected as his episcopal

motto A motto (derived from the Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of an individual, family, social group, or organisation. Mot ...

: ''In principium erat Verbum'', which is

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

for: "In the beginning was the Word" (

John 1 John 1 is the first chapter in the Gospel of John in the New Testament of the Holy Bible. The author of the book containing this chapter is anonymous, but early Christian tradition uniformly affirmed that John composed this gospel.Holman Illu ...

:15). As an auxiliary bishop, Stafford served as

vicar general A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop of a diocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vicar general exercises the bishop's ...

of the archdiocese from 1976 to 1981. From 1978 to 1984, he led the U.S. Catholic Conference Commission on Marriage and Family Life. He also served as administrator of Sts. Philip and James Parish in Baltimore (1980–1981). Stafford attended the Fifth Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in

Vatican City Vatican City (), officially the Vatican City State ( it, Stato della Città del Vaticano; la, Status Civitatis Vaticanae),—' * german: Vatikanstadt, cf. '—' (in Austria: ') * pl, Miasto Watykańskie, cf. '—' * pt, Cidade do Vati ...

from September to October 1980.

Bishop of Memphis

On November 17, 1981,

appointed Stafford as the second bishop of the

. He was installed on January 17, 1982. During his tenure, Stafford revised the structure of the Pastoral Office, improved the fiscal conditions of the diocese, and concentrated on the

evangelization In Christianity, evangelism (or witnessing) is the act of preaching the gospel with the intention of sharing the message and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians who specialize in evangelism are often known as evangelists, whether they are i ...

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

s. In addition to his duties in Memphis, Stafford was chairman of the

USCCB The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is the episcopal conference of the Catholic Church in the United States. Founded in 1966 as the joint National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) and United States Catholic Conference (US ...

Commission for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs (1984–1991) and co-president of the Dialogue between Roman Catholics and Lutherans (1984–1997).

Archbishop of Denver

Following the death of Archbishop James Casey, John Paul II appointed Stafford as the third archbishop of the

on June 3, 1986. He was installed at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception on July 30, 1986. In a July 28, 2005 article in the ''

Denver Post ''The Denver Post'' is a daily newspaper and website published in Denver, Colorado. As of June 2022, it has an average print circulation of 57,265. In 2016, its website received roughly six million monthly unique visitors generating more than 13 ...

.'' five men described being fondled as boys during the 1960s by Harold Robert White, a priest in the archdiocese. In August 1983, one of the men wrote to Stafford complaining about White. A response letter from the Archdiocese said that White was to "...receive an evaluation from competent personnel to determine whether there are any recurring difficulties.” White continued to work in parish ministry until 1993 and was

laicized In the canon law of the Catholic Church, the loss of clerical state (commonly referred to as laicization, dismissal, defrocking, and degradation) is the removal of a bishop, priest, or deacon from the status of being a member of the clergy. The t ...

in 2004. During his tenure in Denver, Stafford hosted the 1993

World Youth Day World Youth Day (WYD) is an event for young people organized by the Catholic Church that was initiated by Pope John Paul II in 1985, sometimes nicknamed in later years as the "Catholic Woodstock". Its concept has been influenced by the Light-Li ...

, which was the first such event in North America. In his last year as archbishop, he launched the first capital campaign in forty years and a "Strategic Plan" for Catholic schools.

St. John Vianney Theological Seminary

In 1990 the

Vincentian Fathers , logo = , image = Vincentians.png , abbreviation = CM , nickname = Vincentians, Paules, Lazarites, Lazarists, Lazarians , established = , founder = Vincent de Paul , fou ...

announced the closing in 1994 of St. Thomas Seminary in Denver due to falling enrollment. Stafford decided to buy the seminary property and plan a brand new institution, St. John Vianney Theological Seminary. The new facility opened in 1999 under the guidance of Archbishop

Charles Chaput Charles Joseph Chaput ( ; born September 26, 1944) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He was the ninth archbishop of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania, serving from 2011 until 2020. He previously served as archb ...

Career in the Roman Curia

Stafford was appointed president of the

on August 20, 1996, he became

cardinal-deacon A cardinal ( la, Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae cardinalis, literally 'cardinal of the Holy Roman Church') is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. Cardinals are created by the ruling pope and typically hold the title for life. Col ...

of Gesù Buon Pastore alla Montagnola Parish in Rome in the

consistory Consistory is the anglicized form of the consistorium, a council of the closest advisors of the Roman emperors. It can also refer to: *A papal consistory, a formal meeting of the Sacred College of Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church *Consistory ...

of 1998. In 2003, Stafford was appointed

major penitentiary The Apostolic Penitentiary (), formerly called the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Penitentiary, is a dicastery of the Roman Curia and is one of the three ordinary tribunals of the Apostolic See. The Apostolic Penitentiary is chiefly a tribu ...

, overseeing matters pertaining to

indulgence In the teaching of the Catholic Church, an indulgence (, from , 'permit') is "a way to reduce the amount of punishment one has to undergo for sins". The '' Catechism of the Catholic Church'' describes an indulgence as "a remission before God o ...

s and the internal forum of the Church. He was thus one of the highest ranking American members of the Roman Curia and the second one in that role. Stafford participated in the 2005 papal conclave that selected

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...

. Stafford submitted his letter of resignation to Benedict XVI on his 75th birthday in 2007. On June 2, 2009, Benedict XVI appointed as his successor Archbishop

Fortunato Baldelli Fortunato Baldelli (6 August 1935 – 20 September 2012) was an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who was appointed a cardinal in 2010 after a career in the diplomatic service of the Holy See from 1966 to 2009 that included ten years as Apos ...

, then

apostolic nuncio to France The Apostolic Nunciature to France is an ecclesiastical office of the Catholic Church in France. It is a diplomatic post of the Holy See, whose representative is called the Apostolic Nuncio with the rank of an ambassador. History of the Nunciatu ...

. On March 1, 2008, Stafford took the option, after ten years as a cardinal deacon, for promotion to the rank of cardinal-priest, and was assigned the titular church of ''

San Pietro in Montorio San Pietro in Montorio (Saint Peter on the Golden Mountain) is a church in Rome, Italy, which includes in its courtyard the ''Tempietto'', a small commemorative '' martyrium'' (tomb) built by Donato Bramante. History The Church of San Pietro in ...

''. In 2009, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the

Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology The Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology (DSPT) is a Catholic graduate school in Berkeley, California. It is a member of the interfaith Graduate Theological Union (GTU) and an affiliate of the University of California Berkeley. DSPT ...

and inducted into their College of Fellows.

Criticism of Barack Obama

The online version of the ''

National Catholic Reporter The ''National Catholic Reporter'' (''NCR'') is a progressive national newspaper in the United States that reports on issues related to the Catholic Church. Based in Kansas City, Missouri, ''NCR'' was founded by Robert Hoyt in 1964. Hoyt want ...

'' reported on November 19, 2008, that Stafford had criticized President-elect

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

, saying he has "an agenda and vision that are aggressive, disruptive and apocalyptic". The story was first reported by ''The Tower'', the student newspaper of the

, where Stafford made those remarks. Saying that the United States experienced a "cultural earthquake" when Obama was elected president, Stafford said the president-elect "appears to be a relaxed, smiling man" with rhetorical skills that are "very highly developed". "But under all that grace and charm, there is a tautness of will, a state of constant alertness, to attack and resist any external influence that might affect his will", he added. Stafford then predicted that the Obama administration would compare to "Jesus' agony in the

Garden of Gethsemane Gethsemane () is a garden at the foot of the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem where, according to the four Gospels of the New Testament, Jesus underwent the agony in the garden and was arrested before his crucifixion. It is a place of great resona ...

". The ''

Catholic News Agency The Catholic News Agency (CNA) is a private institution of EWTN that provides news related to the Catholic Church to the global anglophone audience. Founded in 2004 as the English section of the worldwide ACI Group, it is headquartered in Denver ...

'' revealed more details about Stafford's remarks on November 17, 2008: "If 1968 was the year of America's 'suicide attempt,' 2008 is the year of America's exhaustion," he said, contrasting the year of publication of ''

Humanae vitae ''Humanae vitae'' (Latin: ''Of Human Life'') is an encyclical written by Pope Paul VI and dated 25 July 1968. The text was issued at a Vatican press conference on 29 July. Subtitled ''On the Regulation of Birth'', it re-affirmed the teaching of ...

'' with this election year. "For the next few years, Gethsemane will not be marginal. We will know that garden," Stafford told his audience. Catholics who weep the "hot, angry tears of betrayal" should try to identify with Jesus, who during his agony in the garden was "sick because of love". Stafford also attributed America's so-called decline to

US Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point of ...

decisions such as the 1973 ruling in

Roe v. Wade ''Roe v. Wade'', 410 U.S. 113 (1973),. was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States conferred the right to have an abortion. The decision struck down many federal and st ...

, which Stafford claims imposed "permissive abortion laws nationwide".

References

External links

*
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Denver Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stafford, James 1932 births Living people 20th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in the United States 21st-century American cardinals 20th-century American cardinals Roman Catholic archbishops of Denver Cardinals created by Pope John Paul II Major Penitentiaries of the Apostolic Penitentiary American Roman Catholic clergy of Irish descent Religious leaders from Baltimore People from Catonsville, Maryland Pontifical Council for the Laity Pontifical Gregorian University alumni Pontifical North American College alumni Roman Catholic Diocese of Memphis Catholic University of America alumni Catholics from Maryland Loyola Blakefield alumni