An Italian Catholic priest, Sandro Ferretto, 55, has left the priesthood and married a Kenyan woman, Sharon Jepng’ok, in a traditional ceremony in Baringo County, Kenya.
Ferretto married Jepng’ok, a Tugen woman from Baringo South, on September 6 at Seretion village, Kasiela, the same area where he served as a Catholic parish priest for 12 years.
The couple were joined through a Koito ceremony, a Kalenjin customary rite involving dowry negotiations and family blessings, with relatives, community elders, local leaders and Jepng’ok’s colleagues reportedly in attendance.
Ferretto was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Padua in Italy and began missionary work in Kenya in 2008, serving the Kasiela and Mochongoi areas under the Diocese of Nyahururu.
He was widely known in the community as “Father Sandro” during his years of service in Kenya.
Ferretto returned to Italy in December 2020 and, by 2023, was leading a pastoral unit of eight churches in Saletto, Borgo Veneto, in the Diocese of Padua.
In December 2023, Italian newspaper Il Gazzettino reported that Ferretto had abruptly stepped down from the post after a final Mass, giving little notice to his colleagues.
The Diocese of Padua subsequently confirmed his exit, saying Ferretto “remains a priest and is not involved in any controversy” and describing the move as a requested pause from pastoral duties.
He was later reported to have returned to Kenya, where he reunited with Jepng’ok, whom he had met during his years as a missionary in Baringo.
Under Catholic canon law, priests of the Latin Rite are bound to celibacy and may not marry while remaining in active ministry.
A priest who wishes to marry must obtain laicisation, a Vatican-approved process that removes clerical status and typically includes a dispensation from the obligation of celibacy.
Neither the Diocese of Padua nor the Diocese of Nyahururu has issued a statement on the marriage.
Photos and videos circulating from the ceremony show Ferretto and Jepng’ok dressed in matching orange-and-blue traditional attire with beaded gowns as they took part in the Koito dance rites at Seretion village.
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