[5] James Stafford was raised in Irvington, a Baltimore neighborhood, and graduated from Loyola High School in Towson, Maryland, in 1950.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[2] He was consecrated on February 29, 1976, by Archbishop William Borders, with Shehan and Bishop Thomas Murphy serving as co-consecrators, at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Baltimore.

[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).

In 2003, Stafford was appointed major penitentiary, overseeing matters pertaining to indulgences and the internal forum of the Catholic Church.

[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.

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.

[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".