Italian Missionary Trades Priesthood for Baringo Bride

​An Italian-born Catholic priest who spent over a decade ministering to rural communities in Kenya has permanently dropped his clerical collar to marry a local woman in a vibrant traditional ceremony.

​Sandro Ferretto, 55, exchanged vows with Sharon Jepng’ok, a Tugen woman from Baringo South, during a colorful Koito ceremony held at Seretion village in Kasiela. The traditional rite, which includes formal dowry negotiations and family blessings, drew a crowd of local leaders, elders, relatives, and colleagues.

​Ferretto was originally ordained for the Diocese of Padua in Italy before arriving in Kenya as a missionary in 2008. Over twelve years, he served as a parish priest in the Kasiela and Mochongoi areas under the Diocese of Nyahururu, earning widespread recognition for spearheading youth programs and community development initiatives.

​He crossed paths with Jepng’ok during his early years of pastoral service in Baringo. Though Ferretto returned to Italy in December 2020 and later oversaw eight churches across a pastoral unit in Saletto, Borgo Veneto, he eventually stepped down from active leadership to seek a new direction. He subsequently returned to Kenya, reuniting with Jepng’ok to build a family life.

​The union has sparked widespread discussion across both Italy and Kenya, drawing lighthearted commentary online from locals who joked that the former cleric had traded sacramental altar wine for traditional Kalenjin mursik.

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​Under Latin Catholic canon law, active priests are bound to strict celibacy. Canon 277 outlines the obligation of perpetual continence for the sake of the church, while Canon 1087 dictates that those in sacred orders attempt marriage invalidly without prior administrative clearance. For a transition of this magnitude to be fully recognized by the Church, a priest must undergo a formal, Vatican-approved process of laicisation.

​Regardless of canonical procedures, Ferretto’s transition marks a definitive chapter closed on the pulpit and a new beginning rooted deeply in the soil and culture of Baringo South.