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Delphine Boël’s has been declared inadmissible by the Belgian Court in Brussels, and thus, Belgian King Albert II cannot legally be declared Delphine’s father. Her legal father remains Jacques Boël, despite the fact that DNA-testing has proved that he is not her biological father.

“A biological bond alone does not suffice to prove a father-daughter relationship. There are other components, like the integration into a family,” the judge argued. Jacques Boël has always acted like Delphine’s father, she carries his name, and she grew up in the Boël family.

This decision from the court blocks Delphine’s next step in the procedure; DNA-testing on King Albert II to prove that he is her biological father.

Delphine was born in 1968 as the daughter of Baroness Sybille de Selys Longchamps and was officially recognised by her mother’s husband Jonkheer Jacques Boël (of which the English equivalent would be Esquire). The King made a reference to a crisis ‘thirty years ago’ in the 1999 Christmas speech but has otherwise remained silent on the subject. Delphine Boël has always claimed that it was not about any inheritance, as her legitimate father is much richer than the King.

In 2013, Delphine summoned King Albert and two of his children, the Duke of Brabant, now King Philippe and Princess Astrid of Belgium, the Archduchess of Austria-Este to court in hopes of obtaining DNA for testing purposes. The King enjoyed immunity at the time, but his abdication in July 2013 opened the way for a new procedure.

She ran into some trouble when she wished to revoke the paternity of Jacques Boël, as this had to be done before you turn 22 or within a year of learning that your parent is not actually your parent. Belgium’s constitutional court has now ruled that the right to know who your biological parent is, is more important than the age limit.</s>Jesus said to the Jews, “My Father goes on working and so do I.” And the Jews tried all the harder to kill him, for Jesus not only broke the Sabbath observance, but also made himself equal with God, calling him his own Father.

Jesus said to them, “Truly, I assure you, the Son cannot do anything by himself, but only what he sees the Father do. And whatever he does, the Son also does. The Father loves the Son and shows him everything he does; and he will show him even greater things than these, so that you will be amazed.

“As the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so the Son gives life to whom he wills. In the same way the Father judges no one, for he has entrusted all judgment to the Son, and he wants all to honor the Son as they honor the Father. Whoever ignores the Son, ignores as well the Father who sent him.

“Truly, I say to you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me, has eternal life; and there is no judgment for him because he has passed from death to life. Truly, the hour is coming and has indeed come, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and, on hearing it, will live. For the Father has life in himself and he has given to the Son also to have life in himself. (…)

None of the Rabbis used the title “Father” in calling out on Yahweh. It was only Jesus who addressed Him this way. So Jewish leaders accused him of the crime of blasphemy. By calling God his “Father” he placed himself on equal footing with Yahweh. But Jesus did not intend to claim such equality. “Though he was in the form of God Jesus did not deem equality with God…” (Phil. 2:6-8). It was pure filial devotion that Jesus addressed God as Father.

God is our Father too. “To all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12). As adopted sons and daughters we should behave like children of the light (see Luke 20:36). How sad that many of us create a dark nook for a hideout by making compromises with the devil. We still remember the NBN-ZTE scandalous deal in recent Philippine political history, how the government tried to escape liability by inventing terms like “permissible zone of corruption” and “moderate greed”.

To declare that there is such space as permissible zone of corruption, and that greed is moral when done moderately is a repudiation of one’s relationship with Jesus. Would anyone, having so repudiated such relationship, have the guts of claiming Jesus’ Father as his father too? – (Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., D.M.

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A Belgian Court in Brussels declares that Delphine Boël’s case against former king Albert II of Belgium is inadmissible even though genetic testing has proved that her legal father Jacques Boël is not her biological father.