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. He 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. His father was the owner of a furniture store, which had been opened by his grandfather (an Irish 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 and the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. Priesthood While in Rome, Stafford was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Baltimore by Bishop Martin O'Connor on December 15, 1957. He earned a Licentiate of Sacred Theology from the Gregorian University in 1958. After his return to Baltimore, Stafford was assigned an assistant pastor at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in Baltimore, remaining there until 1962. 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. From 1964 to 1966, Stafford served as assistant director of the archdiocesan Catholic Charities 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, serving in that position for ten years. In 1970, Pope Paul VI named Stafford as a chaplain of his holiness. 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,