An Italian Catholic priest who spent more than a decade 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, during a traditional Kalenjin Koito ceremony held on September 6 at Seretion Village in Kasiela.
Ferretto began his missionary work in Kenya in 2008 and served in Kasiela and Mochongoi, where he became widely known as “Father Sandro.” He was involved in pastoral activities, youth programmes and community development during his years in Baringo.
Reports said Ferretto later stepped away from his pastoral duties and eventually returned to Kenya, where he reunited with Jepng’ok, whom he had met during his missionary years.
The Koito ceremony brought together relatives, community leaders and friends and featured traditional family rites, dowry negotiations and blessings.
The marriage has attracted attention because of Ferretto’s transition from Catholic priesthood to family life. Under Catholic canon law, priests in the Latin Church are bound to celibacy, and a priest seeking to marry must first obtain the necessary dispensation and be formally released from the clerical state. It has not been publicly confirmed whether Ferretto completed that process.