Rev. Father Sandro Ferretto, who served as a Catholic missionary and parish priest in Kenya, has begun a new chapter after leaving the priesthood to marry Sharon Jepng’ok.

An Italian-born former Catholic priest, Rev. Father Sandro Ferretto, has left the Catholic ministry and married a Kenyan woman he met during his years of missionary service in the country.

Ferretto, who previously served as a Catholic parish priest in Kasiela and Mochongoi in Baringo County, spent several years involved in pastoral and missionary activities while working closely with members of the local community.

It was during his time in Kenya that he met Sharon Jepng’ok, a Tugen woman from Baringo County and daughter of former councillor John Wendot.

What began as a relationship that developed during his missionary years eventually grew into a romantic partnership, prompting Ferretto to make the difficult decision to leave the priesthood and pursue a different path focused on marriage and family life.

Following his departure from the Catholic ministry, Ferretto and Sharon formalised their union in a colourful traditional wedding ceremony held at Seretion Village in Kasiela, Baringo South.

The ceremony brought together members of both families, friends and residents of the community, who gathered to celebrate the couple as they began their married life together.

Ferretto's decision has attracted attention largely because of his former role as a Catholic priest and his missionary work in Kenya. Catholic priests in the Latin Church generally make a commitment to celibacy, meaning that a priest who wishes to marry ordinarily has to leave active ministry and seek formal dispensation from his obligations.

His marriage to Sharon therefore marks a significant personal transition after years spent serving as a priest and missionary.

For the local community in Baringo, however, the occasion was also a celebration of a relationship that developed during Ferretto's time among them.

The wedding at Seretion Village represented a new beginning for the former priest, who has now exchanged his clerical responsibilities for a life centred on marriage and family.

The story has also sparked conversations about the personal sacrifices associated with religious vocations and the choices individuals sometimes make when their personal circumstances and aspirations change.

For Ferretto and Sharon, the traditional ceremony marked the start of a new chapter away from the priesthood and into married life.