Well, this is quite disturbing.
We never thought we’d write that about a video that features a priest and a baptism… but here we are.
Footage of a priest slapping – yes, SLAPPING – a crying baby during a baptism has made its way around the Internet, sparking the sort of outrage you’d expect when, it bears repeating…
… there’s footage of a PRIEST SLAPPING A CRYING BABY.
The YouTube video was initially shared on Reddit with a caption that reads what we just wrote: “A priest slaps an infant during his baptism.”
On Reddit, the user wrote: “this happened today in France, I’m really shocked.”
Well, yeah!
Who would not be?!?
In the 43-second video that we’ve shared above, the unnamed priest is shown holding the child’s tear-filled face as the boy sits in a woman’s arms.
We assume this woman is a loved one.
The priest looks like he’s trying to comfort the young kid… until, in the middle of the video, the man of God is shown slapping the child across his cheek.
There’s certainly no other way to interpret what we’re seeing here.
The boy’s parents react to this violent act with stunned expressions, as their son starts to scream even more.
We then see the priest pulling the child closer as a woman, who appears to be a church official, briefly approaches him.
"I saw this video on Facebook and I cried," wrote one Twitter user in response, adding:
"I was filled with anger and sadness. If I was the mother of that baby I wouldn’t hesitate to push or slapped the damn priest back!! I don’t care what he is!!"
At one point, the infant struggles in the priest’s arms, prompting a man nearby to forcibly remove the kid from the priest’s arms.
It’s just weird and wild and disturbing stuff all around.
"This child will be traumatized by [priests] now," wrote another grossed-out social media user.
“This is so scary and sickening, that baby knew that’s the devil in disguise,” another added. “That’s no priest.”
Watch the controversial footage above.