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Kenyan who claims Italian priest fathered him, asks for help from the Vatican

By Mary Wangari October 10th, 2019 2 min read

A 30-year-old Kenyan man is making headlines internationally with claims that he was fathered by an Italian Catholic priest.

Gerald Erobon, who is not taking no for an answer in his search for truth about his paternity, has prompted the Vatican to launch investigations to find out if indeed the 83-year-old Mario Lacchin, indeed sired him.

“According to my birth certificate, it is like I am living a wrong life, a lie. I just want to have my identity, my history,” Erobon said as quoted by The Washington Post.

The Washington Post reported that Erobon’s mother, Sabina Losirkale conceived him when she was just 16 years old and gave birth to him in 1989.

The clergyman has meanwhile remained adamant that he did not father Erobon.

After the priest was transferred, the young Losirkale was married off to the priest’s driver, Benjamin Ekwam, who was registered as Erobon’s father on the birth certificate.

The case has been a long and frustrating journey for Erobon, whose numerous attempts to reach out to Lacchin have been futile.

QUEST FOR TRUTH

Erobon reportedly started seeking out Lacchin through several emails mid-2013 following his mother’s demise.

His emails went unanswered but that did not deter Erobon who purposed to meet the priest in person in Marsabit where he was serving as a church administrator.

A defiant Lacchin refused to meet him, asking Erobon to take his grievances to the bishop leaving the young man with no option but to turn to Vincent Doyle, an Irish psychotherapist and a priest’s son.

According to Erobon, who has known nothing but shame, alienation and ridicule since birth, all he wants is the truth about his paternity.

He also wants his two children to be recognized as Italian citizens.

“They created something which is not my real identity. I just want to have my identity, my history, so that my children can also have what they really are: their heritage, history and everything,” he said.