Italian Priest Leaves Priesthood, Marries Kenyan Woman in Traditional Ceremony

An Italian Catholic priest, Sandro Ferretto, 55, has reportedly left the priesthood and married a Kenyan woman, Sharon Jepng’ok, in a traditional ceremony in Baringo County, Kenya.

Ferretto and Jepng’ok were joined in marriage on September 6 through a Koito ceremony, a traditional Kalenjin customary rite involving dowry negotiations and family blessings.

The ceremony took place at Seretion village in Kasiela, the same community where Ferretto served as a Catholic parish priest for about 12 years. Family members, community elders, local leaders and Jepng’ok’s colleagues were reportedly present.

Ferretto, who was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Padua in Italy, began missionary work in Kenya in 2008, serving communities around Kasiela and Mochongoi under the Diocese of Nyahururu.

He became popularly known as “Father Sandro” during his years of service in the community.

Ferretto returned to Italy in 2020 and later served as the head of a pastoral unit overseeing eight churches in Saletto, Borgo Veneto, in the Diocese of Padua.

In December 2023, reports emerged that he had stepped down from the position following a final Mass. The Diocese of Padua subsequently confirmed his departure, describing it 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 reportedly met during his missionary years in Baringo.

Under Catholic canon law, Latin Rite priests are bound by celibacy and cannot marry while remaining in active ministry. A priest seeking to marry generally has to undergo a Vatican-approved process known as laicisation, which removes clerical status and ordinarily includes a dispensation from the obligation of celibacy.

Neither the Diocese of Padua nor the Diocese of Nyahururu had, according to the report, issued a statement on the marriage.

Photos and videos circulating from the ceremony showed Ferretto and Jepng’ok wearing matching orange-and-blue traditional attire and participating in Koito dance rites.