James Francis Stafford

JAMES FRANCIS STAFFORD

Born : July 26, 1932
Deceased :

Auxiliary Bishop of Baltimore, 1976-1981
Bishop of Memphis, 1981-1986
Archbishop of Denver, 1986-1996
President of the Pontifical Council for the Laity 1996-2003
Major Penitentiary of the Apostolic Penitentiary 2003-2009
Cardinal 1998

Auxiliary Bishop of Baltimore	Bishop of Memphis
Archbishop of Denver	Cardinal

Official blazon

(personal arms) Or, a chevron gules: at the nombril point a pierced dexter hand of the last.

Origin/meaning

As common in US episcopal heraldry, the arms show the arms of the (arch)diocese impaled with the personal arms of the bishop.

The arms are based on a Stafford family arms. These arms have been differenced by the inclusion of the red right hand which is pierced to remind us of the Stigmata that was borne by the Archbishop's baptismal patron Saint Francis of Assisi. The red hand is used to honour the Archbishop's Northern Irish Catholic heritage since the "Red Hand of Ulster" has been used to signify this region of Ireland since the reign of King Henry V (1413-22)

The motto, "In the Beginning the Word" is taken from the beginning of the Holy Gospel according to Saint John (1:1). This phrase expressed the Archbishop's deep Christian and Catholic belief that all things come from God and that the Truth, His Word, is above all other things.

The achievement is completed with the heraldic insignia of a prelate of the rank of bishop, archbishop or cardinal by instruction of the Holy See, of March 1969, confirmed in March 2001.