James Darcy Freeman


Sir James Darcy Freeman was an Australian cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. Freeman was the sixth Roman Catholic Archbishop of Sydney and Cardinal-Priest of S. Maria Regina Pacis in Ostia. He was ordained a priest of the Sydney archdiocese on 13 July 1930, appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Sydney on 9 December 1956 and ordained Titular Bishop of Hermopolis. In 1973 he was elevated to the cardinalate.

Early life and priesthood

Freeman was born on 19 November 1907 in, to Robert Freeman, a tramway driver and his wife Margaret Smith. He was educated at the Sisters of Charity, Elizabeth Bay, and the St Mary's Cathedral College, Sydney where he was regarded as a good student who enjoyed literature, music and sport.
He attended seminary at St Columba's Springwood and St Patrick's Seminary Manly; and furthered his studies at the Pontifical Urban College of Propaganda Fide, Rome. He was ordained on 13 July 1930 by Archbishop Bartolomeo Cattaneo and incardinated in the Archdiocese of Sydney.
He served as an assistant priest in Grafton, Murwillumbah, Strathfield, Mosman and at St Mary's Cathedral. From 1941 - 1946 he became the private secretary to the archbishop and chaplain to the Christian Brothers College of St Patrick's College, Strathfield. He also served as administrator of Haymarket parish and parish priest of Stanmore.

Episcopate

Freeman was elected in partibus infidelium as Bishop of Hermopolis and auxiliary of Sydney on 9 December 1956. He was consecrated on 24 January 1957 at St Mary's Cathedral by Cardinal Norman Gilroy and spent twelve years as a loyal auxiliary to the man he has served as secretary. In October 1969 he was appointed Bishop of Armidale.
On the retirement of Norman Thomas Gilroy in July 1971, Freeman's appointment as Archbishop of Sydney was announced.

Cardinalate and character

On 5 March 1973 Freeman was appointed Cardinal Priest of the Title of Our Lady of Peace of Ostia by Pope Paul VI. He was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1977.
In May 2016, to mark the 25th anniversary of his death, his former secretary, Peter Ingham preached at an anniversary Mass, recalling "the widespread honour, affection and respect with which he was held in the communities where he was known." He further recalled that he sometimes called him "'the reluctant cardinal' – he never sought honours yet they came to him anyway."

Retirement and death

Freeman retired as Archbishop of Sydney on 12 February 1983, to St John Vianney Villa, Randwick. He died on 16 March 1991 at St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney, at the age of 83 and was buried in the crypt of St Mary's Cathedral.

Legacy

Freeman is the Patron of the Freeman Catholic College at Bonnyrigg Heights, which opened in 1985 and has a student population of 1,220 and a teaching and support staff of 114. In 1987, the Cardinal Freeman Centre was established at Granville as part of the St Vincent de Paul Society to provide accommodation and support for the homeless men in the western suburbs of Sydney who have been affected by drug- and alcohol-related problems. The Cardinal Freeman Village in Ashfield is a retirement home providing accommodation to 380 people.

Protection of pedophile priest

In 2016, Freeman and Sydney auxiliary bishop Edward Kelly were faulted for shielding "predator priest" Roger Flaherty from potential prosecution when he was sexually abusing three altar boys in the 1970s and 1980s. Flaherty had pleaded guilty to the abuse in September 2015 and was later sentenced to two years and two weeks in prison in February 2016. However, Flaherty's advanced age and poor health made him eligible for parole six months into his sentence.