Video
BAPTISM OF FIRE
Mum’s horror as priest violently plunges screaming baby into water in shocking baptism
A MOTHER watched on in shock as a priest violently plunged her screaming baby into water in shocking video of the tot's baptism.
Footage shows the priest dunking the infant repeatedly and forcefully into the baptismal font in Limassol, Cyprus, on Saturday.
5
5
5
The man holds on to the baby awkwardly by the arm and lifts it high above his head before violently submerging the youngster underwater.
As the child screams out in anguish, its legs repeatedly hit the edge of the metal font to the disregard of the priest.
Mum Ntina Shitta took to Facebook following the ceremony and uploaded the disturbing video.
"Today I baptized my baby!! See this 'father' how he hits the baby ... The baby of course was all red all over it body and in shock!!" she wrote.
The mother continued to describe the actions of the priest as "horrible", saying "he ruined our most beautiful day!"
The parents have since filed a complaint to the church after the ceremony which left the baby covered in red marks according to Ntina.
"I wish no other baby and no other family to live what we lived, especially in this sacred mystery such as baptism," Ms Shitta said.
"With my lawyer we have already been sent to all the competent departments!"
In a television interview on Sunday, the priest, Father Panagiotis Baroutis, offered his apologies to the family but denied any deliberate wrongdoing.
"The truth is that the baby at some point almost slipped from my hands and as you can see in the video I placed my arm under his hip to protect it," he said as reported by the .
"There was no intention on my part to hit or injure the baby.
"I have baptised many children. When I realised that the baby was in stress, I tried to complete the ritual as soon as possible."
Speaking to , he admitted that his movements were abrupt during the immersion.
However, he also said that due to the emergency measures of the coronavirus he left several people out of the ceremony, something that may have upset the parents.
"If something happened and my parents regretted apologising," he said.
Most read in News
It's not the first time a priest has come under fire for baptising a tiny tot a little bit too vigorously.
Footage taken at a Greek Orthodox church in Ayia Napa, Cyprus, shows a man of the cloth repeatedly dunking the naked baby into the baptismal font.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
The tot is rapidly dunked three times into the water before being handed back to his unperturbed parents.
Within the church, baptisms are usually done ‘forcefully’ which is seen as a solution to the declining birth rate.
5
5
Topics