Priest slaps crying baby during baptism when he won't calm down (video)

A disturbing footage which seemed to demonstrate a French-speaking Catholic priest slapping a crying child after he lost his temper while administering at its baptism has gone viral.

Posted to YouTube in June 2018, the video shows Father Jacques Lacroix holding a crying baby next to a baptismal font, and trying to calm him. But he turns out to be increasingly frustrated by the child’s shouts, and at one point slaps him in the face.

The adults, who appear to be the parents, surrounding the infant are noticeably shocked by this, and attempt to take the child back from the priest’s arms.

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The priest, however, holds the infant much closer to him, at one point appearing to cover the child’s face with his hand.

The 43-second video ends with a man, possibly the infant's dad or godfather, pulling the kid away from Lacroix. But the priest battles to hold on to the baby.

As reported by People, the priest has been recognized and suspended from all baptisms and marriage celebrations.

The Meaux Dioceses in France released a statement that Lacroix has been expelled from all activities surrounding the church after the video circulated around the web.

The statement read: “Since June 21, a video circulates in the press and social networks on which we can see a priest (89 years), celebrate the baptism of a child in Seine-et-Marne."

"This short video is an excerpt from the celebration which the baby cries a lot. The elderly priest loses his temper and slaps the child. Aware of this inappropriate gesture, the priest apologized to the family at the end of the baptism,” the statement added.

The diocese wrote Lacroix was likely tired when the little boy started to cry even though they added that the senior's conduct “does not excuse him.”

“On Friday, June 22, Bishop Nahmias, Bishop of Meaux, took provisional measures to ensure that the priest was suspended from all baptism and marriage celebrations,” the statement continued. “These measures also require him not to intervene on the Collegiate Church of Champeaux now and to celebrate masses only at the express request of the parish priest.”

“Let us confide to the Lord the family of the baptized and our brother Jacques Lacroix,” it concluded.

In an interview with France Info radio, Lacroix called the incident as “something between a caress and a little slap.”

“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 explained. “It was something between a caress and a little slap. I was trying to calm him down, I didn’t really know what to do.”

The video of the occurrence was shared online, causing anger and ire by many people who saw it.