Priesthood
While in Rome, Stafford was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Martin O'Connor on December 15, 1957. He was ordained alongside Edward Egan, who would become a cardinal and Archbishop of New York. His first assignment, after returning to the United States, was as assistant pastor at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Baltimore, where he remained until 1962. He then studied at 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 Church in Baltimore. He was later named director of the Archdiocesan Catholic Charities by Cardinal Lawrence Shehan in 1966, serving for ten years. In 1970, he was created a Chaplain of His Holiness by Pope Paul VI. He was elected president of the Presbyteral Senate for the archdiocese the following year. He also helped reorganize the central services of the archdiocese and create its collegial structures.
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