James Stafford

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. 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). Stafford was made a cardinal by Pope John Paul II in 1998. 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. Frances Stafford was the owner of a furniture store, opened by his grandfather in 1902. James Stafford was raised in Irvington, a Baltimore neighborhood, and graduated from Loyola High School in Towson, Maryland, in 1950.