BARINGO COUNTY, Kenya — An Italian Catholic priest who spent 12 years serving communities in Kenya has married a Kenyan woman in a traditional ceremony in Baringo County.
Sandro Ferretto, 55, reportedly married Sharon Jepng’ok, a Tugen woman from Baringo South, during a Koito ceremony held on September 6 in Seretion village, Kasiela, an area where he previously served as a Catholic parish priest.
The ceremony, according to reports by Kenyan media outlets, was attended by family members, community elders, local leaders and Jepng’ok’s colleagues.
From Catholic Missionary to Family Man
Ferretto, a priest of the Diocese of Padua in Italy, began missionary work in Kenya in 2008 and served in the Kasiela and Mochongoi areas under the Diocese of Nyahururu.
He became known locally as “Father Sandro” during his years of pastoral work in the community.
He returned to Italy in December 2020 and was later assigned pastoral responsibilities in the Padua diocese, where he reportedly led a pastoral unit comprising eight churches in Saletto, Borgo Veneto.
However, in December 2023, Italian newspaper Il Gazzettino reported that Ferretto had stepped down from the position following a final Mass, with little advance notice to some of his colleagues.
The Diocese of Padua subsequently confirmed his departure from the pastoral assignment, saying he remained a priest and was not involved in any controversy. The diocese described the situation at the time as a requested pause from pastoral duties.
Ferretto was also reported to have volunteered with a migrant-support organisation in Padua during the period.
Return to Kenya
Ferretto later returned to Kenya, where he reunited with Jepng’ok, whom he had reportedly met during his years of missionary service in Baringo.
The couple were joined through a Koito, a traditional Kalenjin ceremony that involves family negotiations, dowry arrangements and blessings from relatives and elders.
Images and videos circulating from the ceremony show Ferretto and Jepng’ok dressed in matching orange-and-blue traditional attire and participating in the customary celebrations and dance rites.
Questions Over His Clerical Status
Ferretto’s marriage has also drawn attention because of his previous position as a Catholic priest.
Under the discipline of the Latin Catholic Church, priests are ordinarily bound to celibacy. A priest who seeks to marry normally has to undergo a formal process of laicisation, together with a dispensation from the obligation of celibacy, before marrying.
However, it remains unclear from publicly available information whether Ferretto has formally been laicised or received the necessary dispensation.
Neither the Diocese of Padua nor the Diocese of Nyahururu had issued a public statement on the reported marriage as of the time of publication.
For now, the ceremony marks a notable new chapter in the life of a former Italian missionary who spent more than a decade working among communities in Kenya and became a familiar figure in Baringo.
