Italian Priest Leaves Ministry, Marries Kenyan Woman in Traditional Ceremony

An Italian Catholic priest who spent years serving as a missionary in Kenya has left the priesthood and married a Kenyan woman in a traditional ceremony in Baringo County.

Sandro Ferretto, 55, married Sharon Jepng’ok, a Tugen woman from Baringo South, on September 6 at Seretion village in Kasiela. The area holds special significance for Ferretto, who served there as a Catholic parish priest for about 12 years.

The couple were joined through a Koito ceremony, a traditional Kalenjin rite involving dowry negotiations, family blessings and other customary marriage rituals. Relatives, community elders, local leaders and Jepng’ok’s colleagues were reportedly among those present.

Ferretto was ordained under the Diocese of Padua in Italy before beginning missionary work in Kenya in 2008. During his years of service in the Kasiela and Mochongoi areas under the Diocese of Nyahururu, he became widely known by residents as “Father Sandro.”

He returned to Italy in December 2020 and later took charge of a pastoral unit overseeing eight churches in Saletto, Borgo Veneto, within the Diocese of Padua. However, Italian newspaper Il Gazzettino reported in December 2023 that he unexpectedly stepped down from the role after celebrating a final Mass.

The Diocese of Padua subsequently confirmed his departure, saying Ferretto remained a priest and was not involved in any controversy. The diocese described his decision at the time as a requested break from pastoral duties.

Ferretto was later reported to have returned to Kenya, where he reunited with Jepng’ok, whom he had met during his years of missionary work in Baringo.

Under Catholic canon law, priests of the Latin Rite are bound by celibacy and cannot marry while serving in active ministry. A priest seeking to marry is generally required to undergo laicisation, a Vatican-approved process that removes him from the clerical state and may include a dispensation from the obligation of celibacy.

Neither the Diocese of Padua nor the Diocese of Nyahururu had issued a public statement on Ferretto’s marriage at the time of reporting. Photos and videos circulating from the ceremony showed the couple dressed in matching orange-and-blue traditional outfits as they participated in the Koito dance rites.