A French Catholic priest was suspended Friday after a video of him smacking a crying baby during a baptism ceremony went viral, drawing widespread condemnation on social media, reports The Telegraph.
In footage posted on Twitter on Thursday, gasps can be heard when the 89-year-old priest, after ordering the infant he is holding to "be quiet", sharply slaps his cheek.
A few seconds later he smacks him again.
The baby's parents, visibly shocked, eventually manage to extricate the child from the priest's grip during the ceremony in Champeaux, about 50 kilometres (30 miles) southeast of Paris.
"This loss of self-control can be attributed to the fatigue of an elderly priest, but that doesn't excuse it," the diocese of Meaux, which includes the town, said in a statement.