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]
After his return to Baltimore, Stafford was assigned as an assistant pastor at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish, remaining there until 1962.[1] He then entered the 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]
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, Pope John Paul II appointed Stafford as the second bishop of the Diocese of Memphis.[2] He was installed on January 17, 1982.[5] During his tenure, Stafford revised the structure of the pastoral office, improved the fiscal conditions of the diocese, and concentrated on the evangelization of 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 James Casey, John Paul II appointed Stafford as the third archbishop of the Archdiocese of Denver on June 3, 1986.[2] He was installed at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Denver, Colorado, on July 30, 1986.[5]
In 1990, the Vincentian Fathers 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 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]
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, then 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]
