An Italian Catholic priest, Sandro Ferretto, has left the priesthood and married a Kenyan woman, Sharon Jepng’ok, in a traditional wedding ceremony in Baringo County, Kenya.

Ferretto, 55, married Jepng’ok, a Tugen woman from Baringo South, on September 6 in Seretion village, Kasiela, an area where he served as a Catholic parish priest for 12 years.

According to Kenyan media reports, the couple were joined in a Koito ceremony, a Kalenjin customary rite that involves dowry negotiations, family introductions and blessings.

The ceremony was attended by relatives, community elders, local leaders and some of Jepng’ok’s colleagues.

Ferretto was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Padua in Italy and began missionary work in Kenya in 2008. He served in Kasiela and Mochongoi under the Diocese of Nyahururu and became known locally as “Father Sandro.”

He returned to Italy in December 2020 and, by 2023, was serving as the head of a pastoral unit comprising eight churches in Saletto, Borgo Veneto, in the Padua diocese.

However, in December 2023, Italian newspaper Il Gazzettino reported that Ferretto had stepped down from the position after celebrating his final Mass, reportedly giving little notice to his colleagues.

The Diocese of Padua confirmed his departure at the time, saying Ferretto remained a priest and was not involved in any controversy. The diocese described the move as a requested suspension from pastoral duties.

He was subsequently reported to have volunteered with a migrant support organisation in Padua before returning to Kenya, where he reunited with Jepng’ok, whom he had met during his missionary years in Baringo.

Under Catholic canon law, priests of the Latin Church are required to observe celibacy and cannot marry while retaining their clerical status.

A priest who wishes to marry must undergo laicisation, a Vatican-approved process that removes his clerical status and ordinarily includes a dispensation from the obligation of celibacy.

Neither the Diocese of Padua nor the Diocese of Nyahururu has publicly commented on Ferretto’s marriage.

Photos and videos from the ceremony show Ferretto and Jepng’ok wearing matching orange-and-blue traditional outfits and participating in Koito dance rites surrounded by family members and other guests.