Keypoints
- Ferretto marries Sharon Jepng’ok in Baringo
- Couple celebrates union through Tugen tradition
- Formal Catholic clerical status remains unclear
SANDRO Ferretto, an Italian former Catholic missionary who spent more than a decade serving communities in Kenya, has married Sharon Jepng’ok in a traditional Tugen ceremony in Baringo South, marking a remarkable new chapter in a life once centred on priestly ministry.
The couple celebrated their union on September 6, 2026, at Seretion Village in Kasiela, Baringo South, a region where Ferretto developed close ties during his years as a Catholic missionary.
Images and videos from the ceremony circulated widely on Kenyan social media after the wedding, showing Ferretto taking part in local customs alongside his bride and members of her family.
From missionary life to marriage
Ferretto’s connection with Kenya stretches back nearly two decades.
Records from the Diocese of Padua say he was ordained a priest in 1999 and left Italy for missionary service in Kenya in September 2007. He later served as parish priest at Mochongoi in the Diocese of Nyahururu, working among communities including the Kikuyu, Tugen and Pokot.
The Italian diocese subsequently confirmed his return from Kenya and, in June 2020, appointed him parish priest of several communities in northern Italy.
Church records therefore establish that Ferretto remained in active Catholic ministry after completing his long period of missionary service in Kenya.
His latest appearance in Baringo presented a very different chapter, with the former missionary participating in traditional marriage rites within the community where he once carried out pastoral work.
Tugen traditions shape ceremony
News oulets Tuko and The Kenya Times reported that Ferretto married Jepng’ok through a Koito ceremony at Seretion Village in Kasiela, Baringo South.
Koito is a traditional marriage ceremony among Kalenjin communities that brings together the families of the couple and commonly involves discussions over bride wealth, family blessings and the formal recognition of the union.
Jepng’ok is reported to be the daughter of former councillor John Wendot.
Photographs from the event showed the couple celebrating with relatives, community members and other guests as Ferretto embraced elements of his bride’s Tugen heritage.
For residents familiar with his previous missionary work, the wedding also represented an unusual intersection between Ferretto’s longstanding links to Baringo and his new family life.
Questions remain over Church status
Several reports and social-media posts have described Ferretto as having ‘left the priesthood’ before marrying.
That description requires an important qualification.
Under Catholic canon law, ceasing active ministry is not the same as formally losing the clerical state. Once validly received, sacred ordination does not become invalid simply because a priest stops exercising his ministry.
Loss of the clerical state can occur through specific canonical procedures. Canon law also makes clear that loss of clerical status does not by itself remove the obligation of celibacy, for which a separate dispensation is required.
No publicly available Vatican or Diocese of Padua document located by Africa Briefing confirms Ferretto’s current canonical position or establishes whether those procedures were completed in his case.
It is therefore more precise to describe him as a former active Catholic missionary rather than state categorically that he has been formally laicised.
Kenya connection runs deep
Ferretto’s decision to celebrate his marriage in Baringo underscores the relationship he developed with Kenya during years of missionary work.
His participation in the Koito ceremony has now brought that connection into a profoundly personal setting, blending his Italian background with the traditions of his bride’s Tugen community.
What is firmly established is that Ferretto and Jepng’ok have begun married life with a ceremony rooted in the Kenyan region where he once served as a Catholic missionary.
