The Victim Is the Priest, Not the Baby by Marian T. Horvat, Ph.D

Lisi SterndorferJul 4, 2018

The elderly priest notes the child is throwing a tantrum and attempts to comfort him as the parents passively watch. When the crying does not stop, the priest hugs the boy and in a joking tone, says, “Oh dear, oh dear, I'll scream louder than you,” and lightly touches the boy's cheek (slap one, according to some).

traditioninaction.org
The Victim Is the Priest, Not the Baby by Marian T. Horvat, Ph.D.
The video in question, which went viral in late June 2018 on Reddit, YouTube and Twitter shows a priest slapping a child during a baptism. The French title translates to “A priest slaps an infant during his baptism.”
Let me say before anything else that I am not sure whether the persons who hold the baby are his godparents or parents. The forums I read assume them to be the parents; I am supposing their assumption is correct.
The first suppposed 'slap'
Here is what we see in the 43-second clip. The elderly priest notes the child is throwing a tantrum and attempts to comfort him as the parents passively watch. When the crying does not stop, the priest hugs the boy and in a joking tone, says, “Oh dear, oh dear, I'll scream louder than you,” and lightly touches the boy's cheek (slap one, according to some).
Then, when the child wails all the louder, the priests sternly tells the child, “Calm down, you need to calm down,” and gives a sharp light slap to his face.
Another woman in the …

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MagorzatamariaJul 6, 2018

The priest was wrong, but the old man didn't deserve the brutal comments towards him...he is anold man, and elderly people suffer from many mental and psychological ailments..he is not fit for public priestly ministry, and bishop did well to send the sick old priest into retirement

mccallansteveJul 4, 2018

The priest was wrong, plain and simple. However, the punishment meted out to him was excessive.

mattsixteen24Jul 4, 2018

Horvat is off her rocker. The priest was out of line here and definitely in the wrong. Who slaps a baby in the face??? It's a baby. It doesn't understand discipline. Baby is too young to know right from wrong.

JungerheldJul 4, 2018

Are you a parent? I'm shocked at what is being said about this. The priest's response was totally inappropriate. He didn't "lightly touch" the child, but struck him/her and then wouldn't let go. I'm not saying he should be "disciplined" but this is plain creepy to my experience. "A tantrum"? This is why I wonder if the responses are from parents. Wow...