Footage of a priest slapping a crying baby during a baptism has made its way around the internet, sparking outrage among social media users

Priest Slaps Crying Baby During Baptism — and the Internet is Outraged: 'This Is So Scary'

Footage of a priest slapping a crying baby during a baptism has made its way around the internet, sparking outrage among social media users.

The YouTube video was initially shared on Reddit with the caption, “A priest slaps an infant during his baptism.” On Reddit, the user wrote: “this happened today in France, I’m really shocked.”

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In the 43-second video, the priest is shown holding the child’s tear-filled face as the boy sits in a woman’s arms. He appeared to attempt to comfort the child and, in the middle of the video, is shown slapping the child across his cheek.

A man and woman, who appear to be the boy’s parents, are shown with shocked expressions as the child immediately began to scream. The priest is shown pulling the child closer as a woman, who appeared to be a church official, briefly approached him.

The baby appeared to struggle in the priest’s arms, attempting to free himself. Soon, the man nearby forcibly removes the child from the priest’s arms.

It is unclear where and when the video was taken, and little information is known about the circumstances surrounding the incident. But that didn’t stop the Twittersphere from weighing in on the clip.

“This is so scary and sickening, that baby knew that’s the devil in disguise,” one person tweeted. “That’s no priest.”

Another added: “If that’s my son, I’d have hit the priest so hard that even god would prefer staying outta this.”

The YouTube video has amassed more than 187,000 times and thousands more on Facebook and Twitter.