BARINGO: An Italian Catholic priest, Sandro Ferretto, 55, has left active priestly ministry and married a Kenyan woman, Sharon Jepng’ok, in a traditional wedding ceremony in Baringo County, Kenya.
Ferretto married Jepng’ok, a Tugen woman from Baringo South, on September 6, 2026, in Seretion village, Kasiela, the same community where he spent 12 years serving as a Catholic parish priest.
The wedding was conducted through a Koito ceremony, a traditional Kalenjin marriage rite that involves dowry negotiations, family introductions, blessings and other customary proceedings.
Family members, community elders, local leaders and colleagues of the bride were reportedly present as the couple completed the traditional rites.
Photos and videos from the ceremony showed Ferretto and Jepng’ok dressed in matching orange-and-blue traditional outfits and decorated with traditional beads as they participated in the Koito dance.
Ferretto was ordained a Catholic priest in the Diocese of Padua, Italy, before beginning missionary work in Kenya in 2008.
He served in the Kasiela and Mochongoi areas under the Diocese of Nyahururu and became well known among residents, many of whom affectionately referred to him as “Father Sandro.”
After more than a decade of missionary service in Kenya, Ferretto returned to Italy in December 2020.
By 2023, he had been appointed to lead a pastoral unit comprising eight churches in Saletto, Borgo Veneto, within the Diocese of Padua.
However, his time in the position was short-lived.
In December 2023, Italian newspaper Il Gazzettino reported that Ferretto had unexpectedly stepped down after celebrating what was described as his final Mass, giving his colleagues little advance notice.
The Diocese of Padua later confirmed that he had left the pastoral position, explaining at the time that he remained a priest and was not involved in any controversy.
The diocese described his departure as a requested pause from pastoral duties.
Ferretto was subsequently reported to have returned to Kenya, where he reunited with Jepng’ok, whom he had met during his years working as a missionary in Baringo.
Their relationship eventually led to the traditional marriage ceremony held in Seretion village.
The development has attracted attention because of Ferretto’s previous role as a Catholic priest and his long-standing connection to the Kenyan community where he served.
Under Catholic canon law, priests belonging to the Latin Rite are generally required to observe celibacy and cannot marry while remaining in active priestly ministry.
A priest who wishes to marry must therefore undergo a formal process known as laicisation.
Laicisation is an approved process through which a cleric is removed from the clerical state. It normally involves a dispensation from the obligation of celibacy, allowing the former priest to marry.
However, neither the Diocese of Padua nor the Diocese of Nyahururu has publicly issued a statement specifically addressing Ferretto’s marriage to Jepng’ok.
For now, images and videos from the September 6 ceremony provide a public glimpse into the couple’s traditional wedding, which brought together Ferretto’s long history in the Kenyan community and Jepng’ok’s Kalenjin heritage.
