James Stafford

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For the 19th century cricket player, see James Stafford (cricketer). For the 19th century baseball player, see General Stafford.

Titular Bishop of Respecta
(1976–1982)
MottoIn principium erat verbum
In the beginning was the word
Styles of
James Francis Stafford
His Eminence
Spoken styleYour Eminence
Informal styleCardinal
SeeDenver (Emeritus)

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

cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as major penitentiary of the Apostolic Penitentiary from 2003 to 2009.[1]

Stafford previously served as president of the Pontifical Council for the Laity (1996–2003), archbishop of the Archdiocese of Denver (1986–1996), bishop of the Diocese of Memphis (1982–1986), and as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Baltimore (1976–1982).[2] Stafford was made a cardinal by Pope John Paul II in 1998.[3]

Biography

Early life

James Stafford was born on July 26, 1932, in Baltimore, Maryland, the only child of Francis Emmett and Mary Dorothy (née Stanton) Stafford.[4] Francis Stafford was the owner of a furniture store, opened by his grandfather in 1902.[5] James Stafford was raised in Irvington, a Baltimore neighborhood, and graduated from Loyola High School in Towson, Maryland, in 1950.[5]

Stafford then entered Loyola College Maryland in Baltimore, planning a career in medicine.[6] 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.[6] Archbishop Francis Keough then sent him to Rome to the Pontifical North American College, where he attended the Pontifical Gregorian University.[3]

Priesthood

While in Rome, Stafford was

ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Baltimore by Bishop Martin O'Connor on December 15, 1957.[2] He earned a Licentiate of Sacred Theology
from the Gregorian University in 1958.

After his return to Baltimore, Stafford was assigned as an assistant

Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., where he earned a Master of Social Work degree in 1964 with a thesis on the foster care of children.[3]

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

Catholic Charities and assistant pastor of St. Ann Parish in Baltimore.[1] He was named in 1966 as director of the archdiocesan branch of Catholic Charities by Cardinal Lawrence Shehan, serving in that position for ten years.[5]

In 1970, Pope Paul VI named Stafford as a chaplain of his holiness.[3] He was elected president of the presbyteral senate for the archdiocese the following year.[1] Stafford also helped reorganize the central services of the archdiocese and create its collegial structures.[6]

Auxiliary Bishop of Baltimore

On January 11, 1976, Paul VI appointed Stafford as an

Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Baltimore.[2] Stafford selected as his episcopal motto: In principium erat Verbum, which is Latin for: "In the beginning was the Word" (John 1:15).[3]

As an auxiliary bishop, Stafford served as vicar general of the archdiocese from 1976 to 1981.[1] From 1978 to 1984, he led the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Commission on Marriage and Family Life.[6] He also served as administrator of Sts. Philip and James Parish in Baltimore (1980–1981).[1] Stafford attended the Fifth Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in Vatican City from September to October 1980.[3]

Bishop of Memphis

On November 17, 1981,

African Americans.[7]

In addition to his duties in Memphis, Stafford was chairman of the USCCB Commission for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs (1984–1991) and co-president of the

Dialogue between Roman Catholics and Lutherans (1984–1997).[1]

Archbishop of Denver

Following the death of Archbishop

Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Denver, Colorado, on July 30, 1986.[5]

In 1990, the

St. John Vianney Theological Seminary. The new facility opened in 1999 under Stafford's replacement, Archbishop Charles Chaput.[8]

In a July 28, 2005 article in the Denver Post. five men described being fondled as boys during the 1960s by Reverend Harold Robert White. 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; he was laicized in 2004.[9]

During his tenure in Denver, Stafford hosted the 1993 World Youth Day, the first such event in the United States. In his last year as archbishop, he launched the first capital campaign in forty years and a "Strategic Plan" for Catholic schools.[6]

Roman Curia

Stafford was appointed by John Paul II as president of the

cardinal-deacon of Gesù Buon Pastore alla Montagnola Parish in Rome in the consistory
of 1998.

In 2003, Stafford was appointed

2005 papal conclave that selected Pope Benedict XVI
.

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

apostolic nuncio to France.[10]

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.[11] In 2009, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology and inducted into their College of Fellows.

Political views

The National Catholic Reporter reported on November 19, 2008, that Stafford had criticized President-elect Barack Obama, saying he has "an agenda and vision that are aggressive, disruptive and apocalyptic".[12] The story was first reported by The Tower, the student newspaper of the Catholic University of America, 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".[13]

The Catholic News Agency revealed more details about Stafford's remarks that same week: "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 with this election year. "For the next few years, Gethsemane will not be marginal. We will know that garden," Stafford told his audience.[14] 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".[14]

Stafford also attributed America's so-called decline to US Supreme Court decisions such as the 1973 ruling in Roe v. Wade, which Stafford claims imposed "permissive abortion laws nationwide".[14]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Stafford card. James Francis". Holy See. Retrieved October 31, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "James Francis Cardinal Stafford". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved January 21, 2015.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Miranda, Salvador. "STAFFORD, James Francis (1932– )". The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church. Archived from the original on January 4, 2014. Retrieved August 2, 2011.
  4. ^ "The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church - February 21, 1998". Archived from the original on December 30, 2017. Retrieved August 30, 2015.
  5. ^ a b c d e Noel, Thomas J. "Vehr: The Flowering of Catholicism (1931–1967)". Colorado Catholicism. Archived from the original on August 21, 2008.
  6. ^ a b c d e "Most Rev. J. Francis Stafford". Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore. Archived from the original on December 12, 2010.
  7. ^ "History". Roman Catholic Diocese of Memphis. Archived from the original on September 28, 2011.
  8. ^ "A bold step for priestly formation, and now a leader in the New". Denver Catholic. August 29, 2019. Retrieved December 14, 2021.
  9. ^ ""Our little secret"". The Denver Post. July 28, 2005. Retrieved December 15, 2021.
  10. ^ "Cardinal Stafford steps down as Penitentiary Major". Zenit.org. June 2, 2009. Archived from the original on March 2, 2012. Retrieved December 30, 2012.
  11. ^ "Cardinal Protector". GCatholic.org. Retrieved December 30, 2012.
  12. ^ "Domain Unavailable!".
  13. ^ Grden, Elizabeth (November 14, 2008). "Cardinal at CUA: Obama is 'Aggressive, Disruptive and Apocalyptic'". The Tower. Archived from the original on May 3, 2009. Retrieved November 20, 2008.
  14. ^ a b c "Cardinal Stafford criticizes Obama as 'aggressive, disruptive and apocalyptic' :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)". Catholic News Agency. November 17, 2008. Archived from the original on April 6, 2009. Retrieved December 30, 2012.

External links

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by — TITULAR —
Titular Bishop of Respecta
19 January 1976 – 17 November 1982 		Succeeded by
Cornelius de Wit
Preceded by Bishop of Memphis
17 November 1982 – 30 May 1986 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Archbishop of Denver
30 May 1986 – 20 August 1996 		Succeeded by
Charles Joseph Chaput
Preceded by President of the Pontifical Council for the Laity
20 August 1996 – 4 October 2003 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Cardinal Deacon of Gesù Buon Pastore alla Montagnola
21 February 1998 – 1 March 2008 		Succeeded by
Velasio De Paolis
Preceded by Major Penitentiary of the Apostolic Penitentiary
4 October 2003 – 2 June 2009 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Cardinal Priest of San Pietro in Montorio
1 March 2008 – 		Incumbent
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