Darmaatmadja entered Saint Peter Canisius
Minor seminary in
Magelang,
Central Java in 1951 and
Society of Jesus in 1957. He studied philosophy from 1961 to 1964 at
De Nobili College, Pontifical Athenaeum,
Pune,
Maharashtra and theology from 1966 to 1970 at Saint Ignatius College,
Yogyakarta. He was
ordained priest on 18 December 1969 by Cardinal
Justinus Darmojuwono. He was then assigned as parish priest in the
Archdiocese of Semarang from 1971 to 1973, in Indonesian Province of the Society of Jesus from 1973 to 1978, and then as Rector of Saint Peter Canisius minor seminary from 1978 to 1981. He served as Provincial of the Indonesian Province of the Society of Jesus from 1981 to 1983. On 19 February 1983 Pope John Paul II appointed him
Archbishop of Semarang; he received episcopal consecration from Justinus Darmojuwono on 29 June 1983. On 28 April 1984, he was also appointed Ordinary of the
Indonesian Military Forces (ABRI) Ordinariate. He was created Cardinal-Priest of
titular see of
S Cuore di Maria by
Pope John Paul II on 26 November 1994 consistory, and became the second Indonesian cardinal after Cardinal Darmojuwono, who died earlier that year. Upon the retirement of
Leo Soekoto he was appointed Archbishop of Jakarta and installed on 11 January 1996. He was elected President of
National Bishops' Conference of Indonesia from 1988 to 1997 and again from 2001 to 2006. He submitted his resignation upon reaching mandatory retirement age of 75 and
Pope Benedict XVI accepted his retirement on 28 June 2010. He was automatically succeeded as Archbishop of Jakarta by the Coadjutor Archbishop
Ignatius Suharyo Hardjoatmodjo. He participated as an elector in the
2005 papal conclave, which elected Pope Benedict XVI. Although eligible to participate as an elector, for health reasons Darmaatmadja did not attend the
2013 papal conclave that followed
Benedict's resignation. He ceased to be qualify as a cardinal elector following his 80th birthday 20 December 2014. ==Views==