A Cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church, James Francis Stafford is the Cardinal-Priest of the San Pietro in Montorio church in Rome and the head of the Apostolic Penitentiary of the Holy See. Before being elevated to Cardinal in 1998, Stafford served as the Bishop of Memphis, the Archbishop of Denver and the President of the Pontifical Council for the Laity.Catholic-Hierarchy.org: James Francis Cardinal Stafford On November 13, 2008, during a lecture at the Catholic University of America, Cardinal Stafford characterized President Barack Obama as "aggressive, disruptive and apocalyptic" and said that "On November 4, 2008, America suffered a cultural earthquake."CUA Tower: Cardinal at CUA: Obama is 'Aggressive, Disruptive and Apocalyptic' (November 14, 2008)

During his November 13 lecture, which was entitled "Pope Paul VI and Pope John Paul II: Being True in Body and Soul," Cardinal Stafford said that Obama had campaigned on an "extremist anti-life platform." The cardinal went on to criticize the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, saying that: "Its scrupulous meanness has had catastrophic effects upon the unity and integrity of the American republic."CUA Tower: Cardinal at CUA: Obama is 'Aggressive, Disruptive and Apocalyptic' (November 14, 2008)