What could have pushed an
89-year old Catholic priest to slap an infant he was baptizing? That’s what
church authorities at a Catholic church in Champeaux, about 50 kilometres (30
miles) southeast of Paris, are pondering about.
The nonagenarian priest
was suspended last week Friday after a video of him smacking a crying baby twice
during a baptism ceremony went viral, drawing widespread condemnation on social
media.
Gulf News reports that the baby's parents were visibly
shocked but had managed to take the child from the priest's grip. A footage
posted on Twitter last week Thursday had sparked outrage in which the 89-year-old
priest, after ordering the infant he is holding to “be quiet”, sharply slaps
his cheek.
In a statement, the
diocese of Meaux, which includes the town, said the loss of self-control by the
priest could be attributed to the fatigue of an elderly priest.
“But that doesn't excuse
it. The priest would no longer be leading baptisms and weddings nor holding
mass until further notice,” the statement added.
“The child was bawling and
I needed to turn his head so I could pour the water. I was saying 'be quiet'
but he wouldn't calm down," the priest told France Info radio on Friday.
"It was something
between a caress and a little slap," he said, adding, "I was trying
to calm him down, I didn't really know what to do."
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