Bishop John Martin Darko is dead
Most Rev. John Martin Darko, the Catholic Bishop Emeritus of the Sekondi/Takoradi Diocese is no more. He passed away at about 6.00 pm on Saturday January 12, 2013 at Our Lady of Grace Catholic Hospital, Bremen Asikuma in the Archdiocese of Cape Coast. The bishop had earlier resigned on health grounds on December 14, 2011.
Born on May 30, 1945 in Aboadze in the Western Region of Ghana, the deceased bishop had his priestly formation at the St Teresa’s Minor Seminary at Amisano near Elmina in the Central Region, and the St Peter’s Regional Seminary at Pedu in Cape Coast.
He was ordained to the priesthood on July 25, 1976 by the then Bishop of Sekondi-Takoradi, Rt. Rev. Joseph Amihere Essuah. In 1981, he entered Rome’s Pontifical Urbaniana University where he graduated with a doctorate in Philosophy later.
Upon his return to Ghana, he was appointed Secretary to the then prelate of Sekondi-Takoradi Diocese Bishop Sam, a post he held until 1989 when he joined the staff of St. Paul’s Major Seminary at Sowutuom in Accra as lecturer and Vice-Rector. He became the Dean of Studies a year later.
In September 1995, he was recalled to his diocese and appointed the Vicar General.
The late bishop was the third bishop for the Sekondi-Takoradi Diocese since its creation in 1970 by Pope Paul VI.
No date has been fixed yet for the bishop’s funeral and burial.