Italian Catholic Priest, Rev. Father Ferreto Quits Ministry, marries Kenyan Woman He Met During Missionary Work

Sandro Ferretto, an Italian-born Catholic priest, has left the priesthood and married Sharon Jepng’ok, a Tugen woman from Baringo South in Kenya.

Ferretto, 55, who spent 12 years serving communities in Baringo county, held his traditional wedding ceremony with Jepng’ok on September 6 at Seretion village in Kasiela, where he had previously served as a parish priest, The Kenyan Times reports.

The couple celebrated their union through a Koito ceremony, a Kalenjin customary rite involving dowry negotiations and blessing by their families. Relatives, community elders, local leaders, and Jepng’ok’s colleagues attended the ceremony.

Ferretto was ordained a Catholic priest for the diocese of Padua in Italy before beginning his missionary work in Kenya in 2008. He served in Kasiela and Mochongoi under the diocese of Nyahururu, where he became known for his pastoral work, youth programmes, and community development initiatives.

He returned to Italy in December 2020 alongside fellow missionary priest Mariano Dal Ponte.

By 2023, he was leading a pastoral unit in Saletto, Borgo Veneto, where he oversaw eight churches. He, however, stepped down from the position for a period of reflection.

He later returned to Kenya, where he reunited with Jepng’ok, whom he had met during his missionary service in Baringo.

The couple’s marriage has attracted attention in both Kenya and Italy, largely because of Ferretto’s long-standing relationship with the Baringo community and his transition from Catholic priesthood to family life.

Catholic law on priests and marriage

Under Latin Catholic canon law, priests are generally bound to celibacy and are prohibited from marrying.

Canon 277 §1 states that: “Clerics are obliged to observe perfect and perpetual continence for the sake of the Kingdom of heaven, and are therefore bound to celibacy. Celibacy is a special gift of God by which sacred ministers can more easily remain close to Christ with an undivided heart, and can dedicate themselves more freely to the service of God and their neighbour.”

Canon 1087 adds: “Those who are in sacred orders invalidly attempt marriage. Invalide matrimonium attentant, qui in sacris ordinibus sunt constituti.”

This means that a priest who wishes to marry must therefore first be dispensed from the obligations of clerical celibacy and/or dismissed from the clerical state, according to church procedures.