Julius Riyadi Darmaatmadja was born in Muntilan, Central Java, on 20 December 1934 and baptized the next day. He entered the Jesuit novitiate in 1957, studied philosophy in Pune, India, and theology in Yogyakarta, and was ordained a priest on 18 December 1969 by Cardinal Darmojuwono. He served as rector and as provincial of the Indonesian Jesuit province (1981–83). Appointed Archbishop of Semarang on 19 February 1983 (consecrated 29 June), he also served over two decades as Military Ordinary of Indonesia (1984–2006), and presided over the Indonesian bishops' conference for two long terms.
On 11 January 1996 he was installed as Archbishop of Jakarta. John Paul II created him a cardinal on 26 November 1994, with the title of Sacro Cuore di Maria — Indonesia's second cardinal, succeeding his own ordainer. He rejected any identification of Islam with terrorism and urged Christians to forgive the radicals behind the 2000 church bombings; he was an outspoken critic of the US-led war in Iraq. He voted in the 2005 conclave; ill health kept him from the 2013 conclave. He retired on 28 June 2010. His motto is In nomine Jesu — “in the name of Jesus.”
Major Works & Initiatives
Archbishop of Jakarta
Fourteen years in the capital.
Twice president of Indonesia's bishops
Two terms leading the national conference.
Jesuit provincial
Led Indonesia's Jesuits before the episcopate.
Controversies
On the record
No significant public controversies reported.