Sandro Ferretto, a 55-year-old Italian cleric, left active Catholic ministry and married Sharon Jepng’ok in a traditional ceremony on 6 September 2026. The couple held the rite at Seretion village in Kasiela, Baringo South, the same community where Ferretto once served as parish priest.
Relatives, community elders, local leaders and colleagues of Jepng’ok attended the event. Afterwards, the families completed the customary steps that mark a Kalenjin union.
Ferretto was ordained for the Diocese of Padua in Italy. He began missionary work in Kenya in 2008 and served in Kasiela and Mochongoi under the Diocese of Nyahururu. Residents knew him as Father Sandro. He took part in pastoral work, youth programmes and community projects during about 12 years in the county.
Meanwhile, he first met Jepng’ok, a Tugen woman from Baringo South and daughter of former councillor John Wendot, during that missionary period.
Ferretto returned to Italy in December 2020 with fellow missionary Mariano Dal Ponte. By 2023 he led a pastoral unit of eight churches in Saletto, Borgo Veneto. Then, after a final Mass, he stepped down.
The Diocese of Padua confirmed the move at the time. It said Ferretto “remains a priest and is not involved in any controversy” and described the change as a requested pause from pastoral duties. He later volunteered with a migrant support group in Padua.
Subsequently he returned to Kenya and reunited with Jepng’ok. The couple then held a Koito ceremony, a Kalenjin rite that includes dowry talks and family blessings.
Latin-rite priests take a vow of celibacy and may not marry while they remain in active ministry. A priest who wishes to marry must usually obtain laicisation and a dispensation from celibacy. Neither the Diocese of Padua nor the Diocese of Nyahururu issued a public statement on the September ceremony.
