A 55-year-old Italian former Catholic priest, Sandro Ferretto, has married a Kenyan woman, Sharon Jepng’ok, in a traditional ceremony in Baringo County, Kenya, after leaving the priesthood.

Ferretto and Jepng’ok were traditionally married on Sunday, September 6, 2026, at Seretion Village in Kasiela, Baringo South, in a Koito ceremony, a traditional marriage rite practised among the Kalenjin people.

The ceremony brought together members of both families, community elders, local leaders and friends who gathered to witness the couple begin a new chapter of their lives.

Jepng’ok is a Tugen woman from Baringo South and the daughter of former councillor John Wendot. The marriage has attracted attention because of Ferretto’s previous religious vocation and his long association with the Kenyan community where he served as a Catholic missionary.

Ferretto was ordained as a Catholic priest for the Diocese of Padua in Italy before travelling to Kenya in 2008 to begin missionary work. He spent about 12 years serving Catholic communities in Baringo County, particularly in Kasiela and Mochongoi, under the Diocese of Nyahururu.

During his years in Baringo, he became known to many residents as Father Sandro. His work reportedly went beyond pastoral duties, with his activities involving young people and community development initiatives. It was during his time in the region that he reportedly met Jepng’ok.

Ferretto later returned to Italy in December 2020. By 2023, he was serving in a pastoral unit in Saletto, Borgo Veneto, where he was responsible for several churches. He subsequently stepped away from his pastoral responsibilities for a period of reflection before eventually returning to Kenya.

His return to Baringo marked a major change in his personal life. Rather than returning as a Catholic missionary, Ferretto reunited with Jepng’ok and eventually chose a different path centred on marriage and family life.

The couple chose to formalise their union through a Koito ceremony, giving Jepng’ok’s cultural heritage a central place in the celebration. The traditional process involves the participation of families and elders and includes customary marriage rites and blessings.

Ferretto took part in the ceremony alongside Jepng’ok’s family and other members of the community, marking a striking transition from his former role as a Catholic priest to that of a groom.

The wedding has generated interest because of the unusual journey that brought the couple together. Ferretto spent years serving the same Kenyan community in which Jepng’ok comes from, eventually returning to the area to marry her after leaving active priestly ministry.

Catholic priests in the Latin Church are ordinarily required to observe celibacy while serving in the priesthood. Reports describe Ferretto as having left active priestly ministry before his marriage, although the precise details of his formal canonical status have not been publicly disclosed.

For residents who knew him during his years of missionary service, the ceremony represented a significant change. The man they once knew as Father Sandro was now returning to the community in a completely different role as a husband beginning a new phase of his life.

The marriage has consequently drawn attention in Kenya and Italy, bringing together elements of religion, culture, personal choice and family in a story that has taken Ferretto from the priesthood to marriage and back to the Kenyan community where much of his missionary journey unfolded.