Jesuit Cardinal Julius Riyadi Darmaatmadja was born on December 20, 1934, in Muntilan, Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia.

He was baptized the following day at St. Anthony Church in Muntilan parish, Archdiocese of Semarang. Darmaatmadja entered Saint Peter Canisius Minor seminary in Magelang in 1951 and joined the Society of Jesus in 1957.

He pursued his philosophical studies from 1961 to 1964 at De Nobili College, Pontifical Athenaeum in Pune, India, and later studied theology from 1966 to 1970 at Saint Ignatius College in Yogyakarta. On December 18, 1969, he was ordained as a priest by Cardinal Justinus Darmojuwono.

Following his ordination, Darmaatmadja served in various roles within the Church. He was a parish priest in the Archdiocese of Semarang from 1971 to 1973, worked in the Indonesian Province of the Society of Jesus from 1973 to 1978, and then became the Rector of Saint Peter Canisius minor seminary from 1978 to 1981. He also served as the Provincial of the Indonesian Province of the Society of Jesus from 1981 to 1983.

On February 19, 1983, Pope John Paul II appointed Darmaatmadja as the Archbishop of Semarang. He received his episcopal consecration on June 29, 1983, from Cardinal Justinus Darmojuwono. The following year, on April 28, 1984, he was also appointed as the Ordinary of the Indonesian Military Forces (ABRI) Ordinariate.

Darmaatmadja was made Cardinal-Priest of the titular see of Sacro Cuore di Maria by Pope John Paul II in the consistory of November 26, 1994. This appointment made him the second Indonesian cardinal, following Cardinal Darmojuwono, who had passed away earlier that year.

On January 11, 1996, Darmaatmadja was appointed Archbishop of Jakarta, a position he held until his retirement. He also served two terms as President of the National Bishops’ Conference of Indonesia, from 1988 to 1997 and again from 2001 to 2006.

Cardinal Darmaatmadja has rejected the identification of Islam with terrorism, called for Christians to forgive Islamic radicals responsible for church bombings in 2000, and was an outspoken critic of the US-led war in Iraq.

Cardinal Darmaatmadja participated as an elector in the 2005 papal conclave, which elected Pope Benedict XVI. However, due to health reasons, he did not attend the 2013 conclave that followed Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation.

Upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 75, Darmaatmadja submitted his resignation, which Pope Benedict XVI accepted on June 28, 2010. He was succeeded as Archbishop of Jakarta by Ignatius Suharyo Hardjoatmodjo.