An Italian Catholic priest has stepped away from the priesthood and married a Kenyan woman in a traditional Kalenjin wedding in Baringo County.
Sandro Ferretto, 55, and Sharon Jepng’ok, a Tugen woman from Baringo South, exchanged vows on September 6, 2026, during a Koito ceremony in Seretion village, Kasiela.
The rite, which includes dowry negotiations and family blessings, was attended by relatives, community elders, local leaders and colleagues of the bride.
Ferretto had served as the Catholic parish priest in the same area for 12 years. Ordained in the Diocese of Padua, Italy, he began missionary work in Kenya in 2008, working in Kasiela and Mochongoi under the Diocese of Nyahururu. Locals knew him simply as “Father Sandro.”
He returned to Italy in December 2020 and by 2023 was leading a pastoral unit of eight churches in Saletto, Borgo Veneto. In December 2023 he suddenly resigned from that role after a final Mass.
The Diocese of Padua said at the time that he remained a priest and was not involved in any controversy, describing the step as a requested pause from pastoral duties. He reportedly volunteered with a Padua-based migrant support group during that period.
Ferretto later returned to Kenya and reunited with Jepng’ok, whom he had met during his years of missionary service in Baringo.
Under Catholic canon law, Latin Rite priests are required to remain celibate and cannot marry while in active ministry. A priest who wishes to marry must first obtain laicisation from the Vatican, a process that removes clerical status and usually includes a dispensation from the celibacy vow. Without it, the Church does not recognise the marriage.
Neither the Diocese of Padua nor the Diocese of Nyahururu has issued a public statement on the wedding.Photos and video from the ceremony show the couple in matching orange-and-blue traditional attire with beaded garments, taking part in the Koito dances before a large gathering of well-wishers.
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