Career in The Roman Curia
Archbishop Stafford was appointed president of the Pontifical Council for the Laity on August 20, 1996, he became Cardinal-Deacon of Gesù Buon Pastore alla Montagnola in the consistory of 1998.
In 2003, Cardinal Stafford was appointed Major Penitentiary, overseeing matters pertaining to indulgences and the internal forum of the Church. He was thus one of the highest ranking American members of the Roman Curia and the second to serve as Major Penitentiary, the other being William Wakefield Baum. The Major Penitentiary is one of the few Curia officials whose office is not automatically suspended upon the death of the pope, and is the only one allowed to be in contact with anyone outside the conclave.
In accordance with canon 354 of the Code of Canon Law, Cardinal Stafford submitted his letter of resignation to Pope Benedict XVI on the occasion of his 75th birthday in 2007. On June 2, 2009 Pope Benedict appointed as his successor Fortunato Baldelli, who was then Apostolic Nuncio to France.
Stafford was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 2005 papal conclave that selected Pope Benedict XVI.
On March 1, 2008, Cardinal 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.
In 2009 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology and inducted into their College of Fellows.
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